Social Ostracism, Harassment And Assault of Medical Professionals Is Deplorable And Must Stop Immediately
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
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By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-04-20 20:03:57
About the Author
Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
View all posts by this Author
It is shameful and disgusting that violence against doctors, nurses and other paramedics is rising at a time when they are putting in their all to save the country from the Covid-19 pandemic. The IMA has said that "all doctors and hospitals to light a candle at 9 pm on 22 April, as protest and vigil". It added that "if the government fails to enact Central Law on violence against Doctors & Hospitals even after White Alert, IMA will declare Black Day on 23rd April. All doctors in the country will work with black badges". Those who are indulging in violence against our "corona warriors" should read the IMA statement and understand it. Despite members of the association facing all kinds of physical and mental abuse, including being evicted from their rented homes and despite risking their lives in the line of their duty, nowhere does the statement threaten to stop services. It just talks about lighting candles and wearing black badges to register their protest at the inhuman behavior of their countrymen.
It is a case of biting the hand that feeds. Medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and laboratory workers along with sanitation workers, police personnel, delivery boys and those who are selling essentials to us or are providing services to keep our phones, internet, electricity and water lines running are our lifeline in these troubled times. Without their tireless efforts, we will be helpless. If your family is worried about you and wants you to remain at home to be safe, is not their family entitled to the same view? Yet, they have chosen to alleviate your suffering by choosing to keep on performing their duty even in these risky times.
The case of violence against healthcare workers is particularly distressing. Some people have the wrong impression that these people run the risk of contamination by being in touch with coronavirus patients. Accidents can happen any time but normally, these persons are provided with protective gear and all precautions are taken to keep them infection-free. They are screened before and after their shift. There are many guidelines about exposure to infected patients. In some places, nurses and paramedics have to complete their eight-hour shifts without eating, drinking water or taking a toilet break as removing the protective gear increases the risk of infection. In short, they are at a lesser risk than you or me because when we go to the markets to buy essentials, we are not similarly protected and neither are the ones around us. Further, we do not know who might be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus. Hence, it is sinful to target medical professionals on the wrong assumption that all of them might be carriers.
Civil society groups should take the lead in preventing people from socially ostracizing, harassing or assaulting such corona warriors. People should be educated about the issue and be made aware of the fact that if any medical professional does get infected, he or she will be immediately tested and found out and will be quarantined as they are screened on a regular basis. The chances of an infected or even symptomatic medical professional roaming free are almost nil in contrast to the case of the pizza delivery boy in Delhi who kept on working despite showing clear symptoms of coronavirus for nearly 4 days. So let us stop this madness and give our corona warriors the respect and love they deserve. As it is, there is an acute shortage of medical staff in India. If this madness continues and even if some of them drop out of the frontline, patients will be the ones who will suffer the most. The Centre should enact the law as demanded by the IMA, but more than any law, what is needed is responsible and civil behavior from the society as a whole. If people can heed Prime Minister Modi's advice to enforce a junta curfew, clap hands, ring bells or light diyas why can't they heed his other, more serious advice to honour and respect our corona warriors? People have to walk the talk otherwise clapping hands and lighting diyas seem just hollow gestures?
