Strongly condemning the gruesome incident of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Sunday described the violence committed against the “health warrior” on August 9 as “barbarity expressed in extremity, shaming entire humanity”.
Addressing students and faculty members at AIIMS Rishikesh, the Vice-President said, “Such barbaric incidents put the entire civilization to shame and shred what Bharat stands for.”
Lamenting over the usage of the term ‘symptomatic malaise’ by some stray voices, Dhankhar said, “such statements aggravate our excruciating pain and add salt to our injured conscience”.
“When humanity has been shamed, there are some stray voices, voices that cause concern. They only aggravate our excruciating pain. To put it mildly, they are adding salt to our injured conscience and what do they say “it is a symptomatic malaise, a frequent incident.
When it comes from someone who is a Member of Parliament, a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree. There can be no alibi for such kind of demonising thoughts. I Call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender apology. This is not an occasion where you should be looking through political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity,” he added.
Recognising his accountability to the medical fraternity and the women of this country by virtue of his constitutional post, Dhankhar said, “I am before you. As a matter of fact, holding a constitutional position, I have to show my accountability, I have to justify the position I hold as vice president and chairman of Rajya Sabha.”
“In such incidents, our heart is injured, our conscience is crying and our soul is seeking accountability,” he added.
Referring to the work of medical professionals as ‘Nishkam Seva’ as pronounced by Lord Krishna without any expectation of just doing their duty, the VP condemned acts of violence against the doctors in any form.
Expressing his concern for the safety of doctors at the workplace, he emphasised bringing out a mechanism where health warriors are impregnably protected.
“A doctor can help only to a limit. A doctor cannot convert himself to god. He is next to God, so when somebody dies, out of emotive feelings and uncontrolled feelings, doctors are not given the treatment they deserve… Security of the doctors, nurses, compounders, health warriors must be impregnably protected,” he added.
Criticising the selective silence of NGOs, Dhankhar said, “Certain NGOs on the road for a drop of an incident, a drop of a hat are in Silence mode. We have to question them. Their silence is much worse than the culpable act of the perpetrators of this heinous crime on August 9. Those who seek to play politics and earn brownie points, are not responding to the call of their conscience”.
Underlining the responsibility of society to prevent such incidents and develop a mechanism where women feel safe, the Vice-President stressed, “Whoever has done it will be held accountable but society is also to be held accountable. Society cannot escape its responsibility. I don’t want to make it a matter of the government or a matter of political parties. It is a matter of society, it is an existential challenge to us. It has shaken the very foundation of our existence. It has questioned what India stands for and stood for thousands of years.”
“It is not an occasion to earn Brownie points or score political mileage. This is nonpartisan. It requires bi-partisan concerted efforts. There is a need for convergence of all stakeholders in democracy, to come together on one platform,” he added.