Doctors Day India

Just want to share to you this email sent to me by a friend, Kushal Pratap Singh from India. (July 1, 2009).

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Buna friends! Here I go again. It's July 1 and Doctors Day India. Well in US and other western countries it's celebrated on March 30, the day when Dr. Crawford W. Long first used ether anaesthesia in surgery. We celebrate it on July 1, as a mark of respect for the great physician, Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.

So it’s time for us to show appreciation and say thanks to the doctors who care for us (???).

Lets talk about Dr. George Tiller. He was from US. Dr. Tiller, who was one of very few doctors in US who publicly provided late term abortions to women, was dedicated and passionate about saving women’s lives. He was known for wearing a button that said “Trust Women.” So naturally he was on the hit list of CHRISTIAN TALIBAN’S and OSAMA’S. Death threats, harassment, vandalism, rabid picketers, baseless lawsuits were a part of Tiller’s daily life. In 1986 his clinic was bombed. In 1991, his clinic was under total siege by the anti-abortionists for 47 days in what they called the “Summer of Mercy.” In 1993, he was shot in both arms by Shelly Shannon who identified with the extreme Christian Fascist group called the Army of God. Dr. Tiller neva backed down. But on a fateful Sunday (May 31), this year, he was murdered by an anti-abortion assassin.

Now lets talk about a great Indian Doctor of our times, Dr. Binayak Sen. A pediatric doctor by profession — a gold medalist, from the prestigious Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore. A mesmeric character — intense, articulate, idealistic, a man of privilege who seeks nothing for himself, his two years of detention by the state of Chhattisgarh on shameful frivolous charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy, making war against the nation, and knowingly using the proceeds of terrorism (sic), is a scandal that should shame any civilized society. Binayak Sen has worked for more than 30 years with the tribal poor in Chhattisgarh, battling malnutrition, tuberculosis, and the lethal falciparum malaria strain rampant in the area. He ran his famous Tuesday clinic in the forests’ around Bagrumala and Sahelberia in district Dhamtari, peopled by Kamars and other tribals, the most neglected of the Indian human chain, destituted further by the Gangrail dam on the Mahanadi river. No schools. No drinking water. No electricity. No access to public health. And increasingly, no access to traditional forest resources.

In 2004, CMC honoured Binayak with its prestigious Paul Harrison Award. In a moving citation, it said, “Dr Binayak Sen has carried his dedication to truth and service to the very frontline of the battle. He has broken the mould, redefined the possible role of the doctor in a broken and unjust society, holding the cause much more precious than personal safety. CMC is proud to be associated with Binayak Sen.” I think that speaks volumes for the man. For more about him plzz Google his name.

And now lets return to our real world. My city, Bareilly, I think it has more Doctors than the vendors and grocers. You will find them at every nook and corner of the city. But these are incidents of Government hospitals. June 24. A small town Ramnagar. A woman gave birth to a child. But where? -At the gates of the hospital, under the burning sun. Why?- She was denied entry cuz the PHC (Primary Health Centre) was closed n its opening time was uncertain.

Next, June 26, women hospital, Bareilly. A pregnant lady was turned back by hospital staff with the advice that the baby is dead and she should go to a private hospital for operation. On her way to a private hospital she gave birth to TWINS. (Yeaaa alive twins, one on the cycle rickshaw itself and the other in the house of gentleman.) Inquiries have been ordered and hopefully they will go on and on and on. As always, "Poor People, Hungry People, Indian People". Anyways, "our wishes to Tiller’s and Sen’s and to those who really care for us..."

KP