During training as a doctor we are told to be empathetic, compassionate and caring for
anyone who visits us for advice. This becomes part of the value system of most of the
doctors. To treat, to care and to advise in a scientific manner to any person without any bias
for caste, creed, religion, gender or socio-economic status is duty of a physician. This is
because medical science has proved all human beings to have similar blood. Therefore
doctors have been in the fore front to speak against discrimination and violence of any kinds.
They have raised voice for the check on the proliferation of small arms which are used in
violent incidents.
It’s also natural for us to speak against nuclear power and doctrine of threat of violence with
nuclear weapons and seek total abolition of weapons of mass destruction. The doctors have
been serving people without caring for the borders. They have worked in the most arduous
conditions of natural and manmade calamity. It therefore hurts when someone talks of bias
against people from other religion, caste, ethnic groups or gender.
This bias is not inherent to the human feeling but is inculcated and developed during the
period of growth from childhood to adolescence through our talks with those who have such
feelings. The atmosphere prevailing around us helps build our thought process to a large
extent. Such bigot feelings can ultimately turn into hate to the extent of committing extreme
kind of violence towards those who disagree or question. We have been witnessing this in
several places at different times around the globe.
Nazis had no remorse in killing Jews or others who did not conform to their ideology. Over 8
lakh people died in 100 days of violence from 7th April to 15th July 1994 where Hutu led
government targeted Tutsi and moderate Hutus in Rwanda. Hatred was to the extent that
even husbands killed wives from other tribe. More than 20 lakh people are supposed to have
died during communal violence at the time of partition of India in which Hindus, Muslims and
Sikhs killed each other for no reason. What happened during the pogrom of Muslims in
Gujarat in 2002 or anti Sikh riots in 1984 are a slur on our democracy.
In the present day times of science and technology there are forces who change laws to suit
the structures in power in the name of religion or race. In a patriarchal society, women bear
maximum brunt through miss-interpretation of religion by those who desire to continue to
subjugation the women. It is easy to impose sanctions, the dress code and other things on
women. Events in Iran are a pointer to this. Looking at the pictures of women in a museums
in Iran, in the ancient times Iranian women never used a purdah.
Therefore they have not accepted hijab as part of their dress. So they are rejecting the hijab
despite extreme repression by the religious fundamentalist government. But those in power
have no remorse in killing a 22 years young woman just because she spread her hair out
and removed the hijab. The protests continue even though the girls in numbers are out to face the killer squads. Worse is that the lawmakers in the Parliament shout in favor of
the police who is out to kill.
Rituals of worship have become stereotypical and lost the essence of humanity/religious
value system. On many occasions, extreme indoctrination about certain practices has been
enforced on immature minds and made to follow dictates. Like any other thing religion too
needs to be updated. A dogmatic approach in religion will kill its essence.
Swami Vivekanada in his speech at Chicago had said ‘I am proud to belong to a religion
which has taught the world, tolerance and universal acceptance. We accept all religions as
true…I am proud to belong to a nation which has protected all persecuted…’ “Sectarianism,
bigotry and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth.
They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often with human blood, destroyed
civilization”.
Rabindranath Tagore had said the same in a different manner ‘that we must wake up in a
country where fear does not exist, we must not put people in fear’. The great martyr Bhagat
Singh had out rightly condemned communalism as it was an impediment in uniting the
people for anti-colonial struggle.
By promoting hate, enjoying wounds being afflicted to others we loose our humanness and
develop bizarre mind and a sick personality. Bigotry is a mental illness. Duty of a doctor is
not only to be free of hate against others, but also preach love and compassion and
inculcate fearlessness among the people to speak the truth under any circumstances. This is
important because several doctors sided with Nazis in conducting experiments on the
prisoners. Reports that some doctors refused to treat patients from other community during
the violence in Gujarat is totally unethical and unexpected of a doctor. Let us all understand
that if we inflict wounds on others, one day they bounce back. (IPA Service)