Who is Nawaz Sharif’s cardiologist Dr Fayaz Shawl?

KARACHI: Kashmiris living in Pakistan and abroad have strongly reacted to character-assassination of a renowned Kashmiri physician and cardiologist Dr. Fayaz Shawl for calling him of ‘Indian-origin’ by the PTI-government spokespersons, saying he is a respectable physician who saved thousands of lives around the globe by inventing new techniques in the field of cardiology.

“Dr Fayaz Shawl is a born Kashmiri and they never call themselves as Indians. Kashmir is a disputed region between India and Pakistan, so calling an eminent Kashmiri cardiologist as of Indian descent, just for political mileage, amounts to insulting the people of Kashmir and deviating from Pakistan’s stance on the issue of Kashmir," Sardar Ahmed, a distant relative of Dr. Fayaz Shawl, told The News on Thursday.

Special Assistant to PM on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill and Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry had criticized Dr. Fayaz Shawl for writing ‘fake medical reports’ regarding the health of former premier Mian Nawaz Sharif and urged the judiciary to take strict notice of the fake reports submitted in the court. Gill initially declared Dr Fayaz Shawl as a ‘Pakistan origin’ doctor but later in a tweet declared that he is from Hindustan and questioned if the medical report had also been written at the behest of India for Mian Nawaz Sharif.

Commenting on the statements and taunts of the federal ministers and spokespersons, some leading Kashmiris criticized the PTI-government spokesmen, saying just to malign their political opponents, these spokespersons were not only defaming a well-reputed cardiologist but were also rubbing salt to the wounds of Kashmiri people, who consider Pakistan as their home but never want to be called as Indians.

“No Muslim Kashmiri would let anybody call him Indian. Secondly, Dr. Fayaz Shawl, who was born in Srinagar, studied at Kashmir Medical College, and later moved to the US, is one of the leading cardiologists, who saved thousands of lives by inventing the ‘Percutaneous Technique’ which is now called as Shawl Technique in the field of cardiology”, Sardar Ahmed said. A senior cardiologist in Karachi, who invited Dr. Fayaz Shawl to Karachi some 20 years back, says he was one of the leading and respected cardiologists in the United States at one time, who performed the first ‘carotid artery stenting’ at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) at the start of this century.

“He (Dr Fayaz Shawl) was one of leading interventional cardiologists in the USA at one time. He came to AKUH about 20 years back on my invitation and did a few cases including the first carotid stenting. I think he is pretty old and not actively practicing”, recalls the senior cardiologist associated with the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) Karachi. The senior cardiologist, who was previously associated with the AKUH, added that he was not in touch with Dr. Shawl for over a decade now.

A close family friend of Dr. Fayaz Shawl in the US, who is also from Kashmir, told The News that Dr. Shawl is a well-known and respected cardiologist who received his medical degree from Indian-held Kashmir and completed his residency in England and later moved to the United States and completed his cardiology fellowship at The Walter Reed Army Medical Center. “Dr. Shawl brought the military into the balloon age when he performed the first PTCA in the United States Military (Army, Navy, Air Force) at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1980," his friend said requesting anonymity, saying Dr. Shawl is a member of the American College of Physicians, the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom, General Medical Council of the United Kingdom, the American Medical Association and American Heart Association. “He is also a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Physicians, the American College of Angiology and The Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions,” Dr. Shawl’s friend said, adding that accusing such an eminent health professional of producing fake medical reports is ‘shameful act’.

According to him, Dr. Shawl, who is still working despite old age, intends to establish a cardiac specialty hospital in his homeland to serve the people of the held valley and added that it was quite insulting for such a thorough professional to be called as ‘an Indian, working for the Indian government’.