Honour killings or Murder????

To be born a Hindu in India is actually a passport to enter the caste system, one of the world’s longest surviving Social Stigma. Want proof ? Look for the current Honour Killings which are flooded everyday in the news paper with much of its pride. As if the rest of the social evil like female foeticide, dowry deaths, unreported Sati pratha etc were not enough that we have come up with a modern terminology called Honour Killing.

First of all, I object the term “Honour Killing” as I don’t see any honour in such killings. To me it is the media who has named it as honour killing which actually should be called as pure murder so that society do not take a pride on this path. Our media has always posed themselves as the guardian of the society and we see what they show us. So my humble request to the media is please call a murder a murder instead of coining it in a new phrase of honour killing.

Though I agree that this is not a new evil to the society, it prevailed even in early days also, just that, they were unreported and now suddenly it came into hype. But Indian law should tackle this situation also in the same manner as was done for other social evil like sati etc. No clan or politician can justify these murders in the name of culture in the 21st century. It is a real shame that at the time when we talk about India’s development in global scenario we are still facing such dark age social crime.

Another notable point here is that, when our so called social judges are deciding against the freedom of the choice of the life partners they are forgetting that there are other issues also which needs more attention than this barbarism. Just think over how many of us have heard of killing a family member for raping a minor girl within the family. We often hear of father raping the daughter and when exposed the matter is curbed and when the same girl goes out of the caste and marries a boy of her choice the mother takes the initiative to kill the girl in the name of family honour. Where does the social justice falls in the case of father raping the daughter..Such a hypocrite society we have in the name of Indian culture.

The irony is the Khap panchayats don’t order the Honour killings, instead they create such an atmosphere that the mother , father and the brother are forced to kill their own child just to save the honour of the family. Many politicians are supporting the Khap though they do not agree with the principal personally, but they do support just to gain the sympathy of the common man. This is purely politics of convenience with negative consequences.

At times I feel that these honour killings are worse than murders as murders do take place on the spur of the moment and the killer do regret at times but in the case of honour killings it is not so, in fact, they take pride in killing those people who have been grown up by or with them. It is extremely surprising that just to prove a point some people can go to any extent and be so inhuman.

Actually, what are these children asking for? Freedom to choose their life partner? which anyways is their fundamental right. And parents are anyways expected to look forward to the happiness of their children, so where is the gap in the thinking? Why are we becoming so judgmental and blood thirsty? It’s high time the parents stop assuming the child as their property and stop behaving like a dictator. They should treat them as an individual who does have their own mind and heart to take the most important decision of their lives. At the most the parents have the right to abandon and isolate the children from their social circle but Killing! No way!!!

I wonder that at a age when we have so much of starvation, and other basic problems like drinking water, medical care, sanitation etc do we have the mind frame and time to crib on this baseless issue?

Is it not the time we come out of the dark age which we left behind long back and move ahead for a better future to “live and let live” which is the basis of our culture…..

Poverty – Curse or Blessings for India!!!

Let’s not discuss about the statistics of poverty in India b’coz even today the government does not have a factual count of people living below poverty line and these statistics are being manipulated at the convenience of the political parties during elections. Though, poverty had been one of the most significant issues of India since independence and it’s eradication has been one of common agendas for all the political parties in every elections, but the fact still remains that perpetuating poverty is a lucrative business for all the politicians.
We talk high about India’s economic growth and also India gradually becoming the super power, if not on the international stage but at least in the South east region, but still the poverty remains as a black spot on the face. I truly see this as an irony that in spite of all the promises and assurances the party when comes in power do work on the poverty issue but certainly the priority focus changes like more importance are given to other issues. For instance, you must have noticed that the whole nation was taken by the storm by the differences in the Ambani brothers and even the Prime minister did not hesitate to interfere to gap the difference, but how much personal interest does he takes to gap the rich and the poor of the nation. Hardly… And this is due to the fact that the Ambani brothers joining hands will make a major difference to the GDP of the nation.
Corruption is another major roadblock for eradication of poverty. Guess where will the soft loans, donations etc from the International organizations like IMF, World Bank which comes in the name of poverty come? And we all know how these donations are filtered and then reach the hands of which it is actually meant for. In plain words if poverty is removed how will the money meant for poor be diverted to other pockets. So, poverty is curse for the poor and blessings for the politicians. Actually we should have special department to monitor the money utilization but the problem remains the same, how to trust those department’s integrity?
Again one cannot forget the role of population in creating the poverty at the first place. Initially government did focus on this aspect but it was forgotten with the time. Also, the illegal migrants from Bangladesh and other neighboring countries need to be checked as they are not only responsible for the population increase but also sharing the employment opportunities that are not sufficient even for our own citizens. We are gaga with the pride that Indians are making entry in the list of riches but at the same platform we also need to address the gap between the haves and haves not. To me, that will be the real yardstick to measure the economic prosperity of India.
Now let’s assume that the government has the will to remove the poverty then this should be taken as a project. For instance, take one slum and start working for the betterment of them, like give basic facilities, provide free vocational training to the youth, reserve some quota in the local industrial organization for placement of deserving candidate etc and then proceed to the next slum. Who doesn’t want a better standard of living? So I am sure it’s going to work. Again we need to emphasis on the traditional industry which is mainly labor intensive. Hence, the wealth generation and employment opportunities should go parallel so that the actual result can be achieved.
Lastly, all of us blame the government, advice some measures, write columns on that and then close our PC and feel free from our responsibility. Is there we can do something more to it. I know few people who are silently working on these issue, we should identify them and extend our hand towards them to contribute something to the society. Not just a section of people but, the day when the majority of us can feel the pain of the starving death, we will be able to conquer this menace.
So let’s cut the ice together…

Is Doctor’s strike ethical on humanitarian perspective?

Peaceful strike is a common weapon to fight the unjust treatment in any democratic country but does the same rule applies to Doctors also? Or are they risking some human lives to get the justification. Hence, though a strike is realistic as well as ethical, but it is important to analyze the cost- benefit angle also and more so, when the question is for the most sacred profession i.e Medical.
Today the headlines in the newspaper talks about the Safdarjung hospital doctors on strike which in turn is effecting the patients waiting for treatment. Though this time the issue is too small like drinking water, working lifts, A/c’s in Hostel rooms etc. and the management can very well take care of these issues because it’s very natural that in these miserable conditions, sooner or later, their work is bound to get effected and at the end the patients are going to suffer. So it’s really shame that management cannot take care of these small issues for those people who are almost life savers of common man. On the other hand can the doctors allow the patient suffer due to such petty issues ( in this case the strike becomes in-ethical) or is there any other way that these issues can be addressed.
Considering the other issues of strike – if any strike has a long run benefit for the masses then the current small sufferings are justified. For instance, in 1984 MARD went on strike against the establishment of private medical colleges as they were of the opinion that with these colleges coming in existence can become factory of non competent doctors. With the admission becoming easier by paying huge fees to these colleges not only the less academic student gets into medical profession but also after passing out, they would try to recover the amount of fees from the society and thereby the very basic purpose of this profession will then get defeated. Hence, such strikes which are done for the benefit of the whole society, are definitely ethical. Though the strike of MARD was justified but did not have fruitful results, however, it did succeed in getting some guidelines for these private medical colleges to follow, like reservation of some seats for poorer students etc.
Another issue that leads to strike by doctors is on economic grounds. Demand of increase in salary is justified but there is another angle to it, instead of getting higher salary they might land up in getting none by losing their registrations, if MCI starts taking disciplinary actions for violation of medical laws (Via their code of Ethics and Regulations).The rules framed by MCI, forbid the doctors to go on strike and that is why they are being given Hippocratic Oath before they finally go for practice to serve the humanity. Seems most of the doctors very quickly forget it.
Now, finally it’s time to draw a line in the sand! Forget about law, in a civilized society, morally also no one from the essential services like medical, Fire brigade, Police, should ever think of strike. It’s really a disgusting way of putting across the demands, however legitimate it may be, they should remember that they are different from the society, in a way above all, and hence should be compassionate. How can they forget that people do not come to them in time of happiness instead, come in distress, in pain, in tears and to refuse them of treatment is the most horrendous crime in humanity… Wake up and think about it!