In the wake of the horrific, brutal and savage killing of a lady doctor in a government hospital in Kolkatta, the entire nation is shocked and numbed. The entire medical community in India is anguished and wants the truth of what really happened to come out. In this write-up, Dr. Naresh Purohit, expresses his strong sentiments on the incident and raises some crucial points for all to ponder.
Introduction
Doctors form the top 1% of the nation’s intellectual capital. We are trained in both medicine and healthcare systems: to read symptoms, to detect anomaly and root cause, to correlate information, to know cause and effect, to break down issues to first principles, to problem solve and work under pressure, and above all to work for benefits beyond ourselves.
Today we are faced with the first-hand encounter of a corrupt power system, exerting its tyrannical hold over society, and consuming the medical fraternity. We had seen its marauding rampage spoken about in whispers, but hoped that it wouldn’t touch us.
The recent horrific violence and killing of a lady medical professional who was just doing her duty within a so-called safe premises of a hospital, has made the blood boil of the entire medical fraternity, and the nation. We see rallies, marches, slogans and strikes across the medical community as an emotional and frustrated reaction to this brutal incident.
The Questions to ask are
– With all our inherent training, for which one needs at least 8 years of intense, focussed efforts to qualify (unless one has the blessings of the corrupt system and its underlings) couldn’t we apply this knowledge to attack root cause and find solutions, instead of just emotionally reacting?
– What degree of gaslighting renders even us, intellectual elites, to feel powerless to take on the monster of tyranny? Cumulatively, we have all that is needed. Contacts, pressure on the health of the state, access to wide variety of people, intelligence… each of which can be converted into a weapon system. Or, if you prefer medical analogy, an instrument of potent cure.
But you don’t see these applied. Instead, we seem as powerless as the common villager, living under the threat of violence or career spoil. The question which then comes to me is, if WE can’t come together and solve the problem, then which section of society can? We are the one of the sections of society with the highest training and intelligence in the country.
In reality we face the same issues as any other section:
– No inherent and cultivated sense of community
– No sense of community agenda and community awareness
– A mire of pettiness of existence
– A proclivity to take care of oneself first, because no one else will
– A certain mental conditioning which makes us all like a herd of sheep
This struck me because, over the course of the last few days, I have had missives from a whole gamut, from very senior medical professionals to junior professionals. Somehow, they are all expecting someone else will come from outside and rescue them. I don’t blame them. THAT is a predominant recourse and reaction.
They are resorting to reactivism. But reactivism runs its course pretty soon, and THAT course can be hijacked, commandeered, channelled, and buried. There might be a feeling of short-term euphoria, but it has no long-term impact.
Take for example, you’d hope that an external investigation will bring out the truth. But, purely for academic sake, say there was a pre adjustment done, whereby the score or more MPs silently offer support to the center, a support needed to offset possible leveraging by internal supporters to arm twist in exceptional circumstances, do you think that the ‘external’ agency will deliver truth? Or will the center suggest the ‘external’ agency to stave off pressure, create a circus and play along until things subside, but now have more leverage?
And, IF, such were to transpire, does it do away with tyranny? Or the malaise of society? Are we then left any less a susceptible victim? Do you get justice?
How can we think of eating an elephant, when all that we have been ever trained or conditioned for is the rat race?
How do you take a moral stand, when it has been convenient to sidestep morality for convenience? How do you seek honour, when it has been dismissed as an anachronism?
TIME TO THINK……
Editors Note
The views and statements expressed in this write-up are solely those of the author only.
The Indian Practitioner strongly condemns the brutal assault and killing of the lady doctor who was doing her duty inside a hospital premises, and we stand strong and united with the medical fraternity for the cause of doctors’ safety and prevention of violence.
