Distinguished Faculty, Staff, Officials, and Doctors,

For the first time in my life, I am totally drained out. It took me a lot of courage to come to this place but I could not have left the land of Gods without being accountable before you all.

What has happened on August 9, 2024, was not an incident, not a culpable act. It was barbarity expressed in extremity, shaming humanity and the victim happened to be from a category, a class that is ever devoted to saving lives. As Governor of the State of West Bengal, I had the occasion to express my gratitude to health warriors, doctors, nurses, and compounders. In spite of great risk to their family and themselves, they ventured out to save the lives of others.

I have yet to come across a doctor who would ever think twice before attending to a person in difficulty—medical difficulty—in a bus, in a train, in a flight, on the road, anywhere.  He is psychologically and emotionally on duty 24 hours a day, imagine what happened on August 9 our heart is injured, our conscience is crying, our soul is seeking accountability.

This is one category of professionals who invest the maximum number of years in reaching what they reach. They have the option to lead a cosy, easy life, but they choose to serve humanity. This incident is no less than what happened on August 9, 1942. That was a clarion call to see those who kept us in bondage, leave us, Quit India. This day will never be marked, we have to hold these barbaric elements—demonising humanity and putting the entire civilisation of this country to shame. They shredded what India stands for. The entire nation is on the rise. They are united in one voice. They are crying within, they are not at peace with themselves.

In this sombre backdrop, which is nothing less than a national tragedy, 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, Rajya Sabha. When I stepped into the precincts and was in the green room, a draft bill was submitted to me. It should be the job of parliamentarians. It should be the job of the legislature but this has been done by the Resident Doctors Association compulsively, in difficulty, to show us a ray of hope. The tunnel is dark. The tunnel is long, we have to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The President of the country, herself a tribal woman, struggled to that way and had to express herself ‘Enough is Enough’ No longer, No more. Let's call it ‘Enough is Enough’.

In this backdrop, Resident Doctors Association, I compliment you. I am indebted to you for taking on a job that should be someone else's but you had no option. I glanced through it. Every word you have said is writing on the wall, it cannot be debatable, it is the only way out.

Healthcare personnel are the only community in the country serving emotionally. I have said so. घर में बेटी की शादी है और पड़ोसी दिक्कत में है, तो फेरो से उठ जाते हैं। यह आपकी पहचान है और कोई भी समाज में नाराज नहीं होता है। पंडित जी भी अपनी बात अलग रख देते हैं। ऐसे में ऐसे उदाहरण अनेक हैं।

Charged people and hence, are always at risk, the risk to doctors has been multiple times earlier. I reflected on that risk because a doctor can help only up to a limit, a doctor cannot convert himself into God, he is next to God so, when somebody dies out of uncontrolled, emotive feelings, doctors are not given the treatment they deserve. Mechanisms have been put in place on half a dozen occasions in West Bengal and outside, I had pleaded for a mechanism. The security of doctors, nurses, compounders, and health warriors must be impregnably protected but look at your objects, subjected to violence.

Where on earth is the occasion to subject a health warrior to violence? Moreover, doctor, look at your oath. You have lived up to that oath, you never forget it and you would never show your back to your duty. As a matter of fact, your duty is inspired and is at par with the great discourse Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna, don’t look at anything, no relationship, nothing. There will be friends, etc. In your case, there will be duties, obligations to family, commitments. discharge that duty.

In this context, it has been reflected, here “On August 9, 2024, a young female doctor committed to using her training in the service of humanity had her life brutally and tragically taken away while being on duty at her own hospital.” This defines the enormity of the situation we are faced with. 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 a bucket full of salt to our injured conscience and what do they say? It is “Symptomatic Malaise” , a frequent incident, when it comes from someone who is a member of parliament or a senior advocate, then the culpability is of extreme degree. There can be no alibi for such demonising thoughts. 

I call upon such misguided souls to revisit their thoughts and publicly tender an apology, this is not an occasion to view through a political prism. This political prism is a dangerous one, it kills your objectivity, it calls for searching within.

Imagine if she were somebody’s daughter, our daughter, can we ever generationally forget it? We had, in 2012, a painful incident, Nirbhaya Kand, that shook the nation, there was a change of legislation. This is much beyond that, this is at a time when the entire world is looking at us, we are a nation leading the world, we proudly projected to the world, "One Earth, One Family, One Future." Vasudev Kutumbakam और हमारे कुटुम्ब की बेटी ना दिन देखा ना रात देखी जनता की सेवा करने में उसके साथ बलात्कार, कत्ल निर्ममता उस हद की जो अकल्पनीय है। पूरी डॉक्टर बिरादरी, पूरा नर्सिंग स्टाफ, पूरे हेल्थ वॉरियर्स चिंता में है परेशानी में है दुखी है। मां-बाप सोचेंगे  की बेटी को डॉक्टर बनेंगे या ना बनाएं जब यह विचार मन में आता है तो दिल विचलित हो जाता है।

I have myself gone on record saying that the clarion call given by the President of India should become a movement across the country, severe punishment is one way out. Holding the ultimate rogues of humanity and bringing them to justice is one way but we must bring about a revolutionary, secure, systemic mechanism never in future, there will be any kind of threat to the sector that is in the service of humanity. We have to protect everyone all over, no one should suffer this indignity in any walk of life. Our civility and democratic values will be defined by the respect we have for our women and girls in particular. But we must have security for all. This is a very, very special segment—a segment that saves your life, and you deprive that life, outracing all her dignities, in a manner that even the most barbaric demon would not contemplate, whomever has done this will be held accountable but society is also to be held accountable. Society cannot escape its responsibilities. 

Certain NGOs, on road for drop of an incident, 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, 2024. Those who seek to play politics and brownie points, keep on writing letters to one another, are not responding to the call of their conscience. 

A society has to be fit to perform, a person may be talented, committed, and skilled. If he or she is not fit, he or she can’t help anyone, help has to be secure from someone else, you are a category that keeps us fit, you are a category that, by nature, is self-sacrificing. I can assure you, things will take shape, this is just not a work by the Resident Doctors Association. It is not scripted, they have laid bare their soul. 

The concern must move and I have no doubt this will happen. This is not an occasion to vie with each other, to earn brownie points or score political mileage, this is non-partisan. It requires a bipartisan, concerted effort. There is a need for the convergence of all stakeholders in democracy to come together on one platform, condemnation is taking place; you must find a way out. You must show the light, we must see results on the ground. The ecosystem must be so vibrant that the feeling of insecurity among this category of people in the service of humanity vanishes. It will happen, if the President of India has expressed concern, you can take it from me. 

Those who are in governance seats are alive to it but I don’t want to make it a matter of the government or political parties. I want it to be a matter of society, it is an existential challenge to us. It has shaken the foundations of our very existence, it has questioned what India stands for and it has stood for thousands of years.

Let me invite attention to what has been said in our scriptures " पुनर्वित्तं पुनर्मित्रं पुनर्भार्या पुनर्मही | एतत्सर्वं पुनर्लभ्यं न शरीरं पुनः पुनः ||  यह क्या कहता है हम अपना खोया हुआ धन वापस ले सकते हैं 'पुनर्वित्तं', हम खोया हुआ दोस्त वापस पा सकते हैं ' पुनर्मित्रं', हमें नयी पत्नी भी मिल सकती है 'पुनर्भार्या', हमारी खोयी भूमि वापस मिल सकती है 'पुनर्मही', किंतु हमें अपना शरीर वापस नहीं मिल सकता।

अब देखिए जिस बच्ची ने इस शरीर को बचाने की कोशिश की थी, उस शरीर को हमने तार-तार कर दिया। कैसी विडम्बना है, हमारी संस्कृत में तो यह कहा गया है कि कुछ भी कर दो बचाओ उस शरीर को। आप लोग इस साधुवाद कार्य में लगे हुए हैं और ऐसे करने वाले के साथ ऐसा हो शब्द नहीं है की इसको क्या कहा जाए।

. I’ll come here some other day to talk about the health sector, it is my favourite subject. "पहला सुख निरोगी काया" You are custodians of it, in our Vedas, Atharva Veda, स्वास्थ्य पर बहुत कुछ कहा गया है। आज के दिन मेरे आने का एक ही उद्देश्य था, और मुझे बड़ा जोर आ रहा है कि एम्स ऋषिकेश कितनी अकल्पनीय प्रगति कर रही है। मैं नहीं बोल पा रहा हूं उसे पर। ऐसी प्रगति की है कि एक नया नाम रोशन हो रहा है एम्स में, और यह आप सब लोगों के सहयोग की वजह से हो रहा है। आज मैं अपने आप को आपके दुख में अपनी भागीदारी प्रकट करने के लिए आया हूं। मेरा मन नहीं माना। मुझे लग रहा है कि क्या मैं आपके सामने सामान्य रूप से खड़ा रह सकता हूं। समाज आपकी अदालत में है आज, और समाज को आपकी अदालत में आपके प्रश्नों का जवाब देना है। संविधान ने मुझे एक पद दिया है कि इस हवन में मैं मेरी कुछ आहुति दे पाऊंगा। कुछ समय बाद आऊंगा, जब हालात अच्छे हो जाएंगे, वातावरण ठीक होगा, और सिस्टम इन प्लेस होगा।

बहुत-बहुत धन्यवाद। नमस्कार!

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JK/RC/SM

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