By Apoorva Chawla:
What do we do when the people we trust with our lives, our saviors, turn into Satans? The Indian Police has for a long time been infamous because of its atrocities on the general public, from women to students and now the doctors, no one is spared.
On Saturday, 4th September, 2010 over 200 police men brutally beat up resident doctors and medical students in the MDM Medical College, Jodhpur after a minor tussle between a doctor and a patient’s attendant. The hostel rooms were broken into by the police and female students were also beaten up. Thus depicting the inhumane and illogical methods followed by the India police.
After this horrifying incident around 1200 doctors all over the state declared a strike that went on for 3days and finally ended on Tuesday 7th October after negotiations with the government.
But between all this where does the common man go? Around 50 deaths were reported (including children) in the state because of lack of medical attention in the last three days. Though the doctors’ protest for their security is justified but what about medical ethics? The guiding principle of medicine is the alleviation of suffering, so then is the irresponsible act by doctors all over the state justified? The innocents who lost their lives in this clash between the doctors and the police can never get a second chance at life. What about the children who died?
The doctors need to decide an alternative course of action without keeping their duties on the back burner. Leaving the lives of their patients in peril is not only unethical but also inhuman.
But apart from the police and the doctors, the CM of Rajasthan is also responsible for this unnecessary violence. The police officials involved in the incident should be immediately suspended and strict measures should be taken in order to make sure that the police do not repeat similar acts of brutality in the future. Also, the security of the doctors (especially females) and the patients should be increased.
‘When the healers and protectors go astray,
Then to whom does the common man pray?’
The writer is a Correspondent of Youth Ki Awaaz.