Wednesday, May 1, 2013
A tale of a petty Indian: Questions to the Government of India and Pakistan
::
His name is Sarabjit.
A terror convict according to the Pakistani Judicial system.
An innocent citizen who innocently trespassed into a foreign land, and mistaken as a terrorist, according to the Indian counterparts.
What is the truth?
He is either an "Indian terrorist" or an Innocent guy. He can not be both.
He has been languishing in Pakistani jails for years before being shifted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a leading hospital in Lahore. The ICU now has been declared a jail.
His kins have returned to Pakistan after visiting him in Lahore.
Their plea to release him has fallen on deaf ears. Deaf ears on either side of the border.
Indian Prime Minister described the attack on Sarabjit as an unfortunate incidence. That is where his concern ends.
I have few questions for the Government on either side of the border.
My questions to the Indian Government:
What is the truth?
Was Sarabjit a terrorist?
If so, why didn't the Indian Government "disown" him?
Or, was Sarabjit an Indian agent?
If so, does the Indian Government owe him something for the "services" he rendered? In a recent diplomatic faceoff, the Italian Government demonstrated its solidarity with the marines, who killed Indian fishermen off the western coast, mistaking them to be pirates. Why doesn't Indian Government do that?
Was Sarabjit, an innocent farmer who trespassed into the Pakistani soil?
If so, do you leave your citizens unprotected, uncared like that?
Whether a terrorist who killed 10 people in a bomb blast in 1993, or a farmer, Sarabjit deserved more concern from the Indian Government.
Now my questions to the Pakistani Government:
How serious is the condition of Sarabjit? Is it critical? Does he have slim chance of survival as reported?
If so, why not let him die in his home land. Let him die in dignity.
Or can he be revived by better medical attention elsewhere? If so, why not transfer him as sought by the family of Sarabjit?
Awake useless Governments!
::
Friday, June 17, 2011
Euthanasia accepted in India
Fourteen men....
Policeman by occupation,
Powerful, corrupt.
One girl, fourteen year old, missing from her home in Lakhimpur khiri, in Uttar Pradesh.
Found hanging from a tree in Police station.
Police suggested it was a suicide.
Initial autopsy report rules out foul play. Doubts raised on its authenticity.
Do you need to be a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened?
Policeman suspended, so was the doctor(s) who carried out the autopsy.
Does the story ends here?
The mother of this girl alleges she was offered Rs. five lac.
We are talking of corruption in India.
What is corruption? Making big money through unfair means?
If so, what is this?
A country that is headed by a woman, has one of the most influential woman on earth as the leader of the incumbent party, a state that is headed by another woman, who until few years ago was portrayed as India's Obama, this is what India and UP are.
India that finds itself among Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan and Somalia in the list of countries that are most dangerous for women.
Few years ago, the security guards deployed at one of the gardens of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, raped a girl after chasing her boy friend.
Surely it must have been the President Kalam's wish that the case was heard in a fast track court and the culprits were brought to justice.
I feel, rape itself is shocking enough. What I find more shocking is that so many of them take turn, and not a single person's conscience speaks during the ordeal. And when the ordeal does end finally, these rascals find it most appropriate to put an end to the sufferings of their victim, this teenager! They concur and quickly strangulate her. What an example of euthanasia.
Can something that the nation try to do in the cases that saw massive media coverage be done here?
Please answer before it is someone close to you needing justice.
Policeman by occupation,
Powerful, corrupt.
One girl, fourteen year old, missing from her home in Lakhimpur khiri, in Uttar Pradesh.
Found hanging from a tree in Police station.
Police suggested it was a suicide.
Initial autopsy report rules out foul play. Doubts raised on its authenticity.
Do you need to be a Sherlock Holmes to figure out what happened?
Policeman suspended, so was the doctor(s) who carried out the autopsy.
Does the story ends here?
The mother of this girl alleges she was offered Rs. five lac.
We are talking of corruption in India.
What is corruption? Making big money through unfair means?
If so, what is this?
A country that is headed by a woman, has one of the most influential woman on earth as the leader of the incumbent party, a state that is headed by another woman, who until few years ago was portrayed as India's Obama, this is what India and UP are.
India that finds itself among Afghanistan, Congo, Pakistan and Somalia in the list of countries that are most dangerous for women.
Few years ago, the security guards deployed at one of the gardens of the Rashtrapati Bhawan, raped a girl after chasing her boy friend.
Surely it must have been the President Kalam's wish that the case was heard in a fast track court and the culprits were brought to justice.
I feel, rape itself is shocking enough. What I find more shocking is that so many of them take turn, and not a single person's conscience speaks during the ordeal. And when the ordeal does end finally, these rascals find it most appropriate to put an end to the sufferings of their victim, this teenager! They concur and quickly strangulate her. What an example of euthanasia.
Can something that the nation try to do in the cases that saw massive media coverage be done here?
Please answer before it is someone close to you needing justice.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Medical Council of India: reforms Vs malaise
::
The Medical Council of India has issued new guidelines regarding what a physician can (or can not) accept from a pharmaceutical company. Its a laudable move. Eventually it is the hapless patient who pays for the trips of medical men to exotic locations.
However, the apex body itself suffers from lack of transparency.
Its inspectors sometimes turn a blind eye to the medical faculty that travels with them in the same train while visiting a newly permitted medical college. Sometimes they can even be old buddies!
These senior faculty members may be employed in states far off from the one they actually live (read practice) in. Getting a post retirement re-employment helps them make easy bucks.
Worse, while they are in the campus (either for face presentation during an MCI visit or to collect their pay cheque), they create havoc for the "resident", young aspiring, faculty. Instead of helping them hone their skills (which often they may not be capable of), they humiliate them sometimes compelling them to leave a medical college in disgust.
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) that overlooks other professional education including engineering has suggested biometric imprint to keep an eye on the presence of teaching faculty. I guess, the MCI needs to follow suit.
There was a suggestion to create a more transparent body that would amalgamate the existing bodies such as the MCI, AICTE, UGC etc. The government seems to be evaluating the idea again. I do not know which way it would be better for our education system.
::
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Does India need land reforms?
::
The litchies have disappeared from most of Uttranchal. Its rice famous the world over and exported to western and middle east countries is dwindling.
There are no parks for kids to play.
There are no grounds either. Streets ae not safe to play as they were in seventies.
Houses are built that are juxaposed to each other.
Income tax exemption for house loans exist.
The question is how many houses can or should a family own? People not only buy property which gets appraised easily but also shave off agricultural and forest land.
Housing policies either do not exist or are overlooked.
Is it not the time we have a land reforms policy?
Let people own the property but t has to built according to the conventions. Facilitate owning the first house, impose heavy axes on second and third houses some of which are not occupied.
Let the houses be constructed by either (hitherto corrupt) government sector or by MNCs. Let there be heavy penalty for poor construction, poor compliance with the rules.
Preserve some land now.
Gone are he days when the forest cover was estimated by indirect means. now you have satellite pictures for the real data. So why not have a land reforms act?
::
The litchies have disappeared from most of Uttranchal. Its rice famous the world over and exported to western and middle east countries is dwindling.
There are no parks for kids to play.
There are no grounds either. Streets ae not safe to play as they were in seventies.
Houses are built that are juxaposed to each other.
Income tax exemption for house loans exist.
The question is how many houses can or should a family own? People not only buy property which gets appraised easily but also shave off agricultural and forest land.
Housing policies either do not exist or are overlooked.
Is it not the time we have a land reforms policy?
Let people own the property but t has to built according to the conventions. Facilitate owning the first house, impose heavy axes on second and third houses some of which are not occupied.
Let the houses be constructed by either (hitherto corrupt) government sector or by MNCs. Let there be heavy penalty for poor construction, poor compliance with the rules.
Preserve some land now.
Gone are he days when the forest cover was estimated by indirect means. now you have satellite pictures for the real data. So why not have a land reforms act?
::
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Welcome to the youngest republic!
::
I am a common (Indian) man.
I live in a neighborhood where there is no drainage. People constructed houses but did not leave any space for draining channels; instead they encroached part of the road as well. As a result the road is very congested.
The garbage from my house is collected by a woman who brings a cart. I recently realized that the garbage is dumped in a canal which was once meant for irrigating the fields. As a result it often gets choked by polythene bags. Most of my neighbors discuss, we don’t have civic sense when we visit each other. Then we turn a blind eye to the problem.
When I was a kid, I had learnt about the civic amenities in ancient India especially the roads, the drainage system and the houses. But thousands of years later, we still struggle, basking in past glory!
I own a car and a bike – not because I was too fond of these, but because a public transport never existed in my town. People have more vehicles per capita than I have. That doesn’t help because finally those vehicles have to be driven on the same dilapidated roads.
I hear about how toddlers fall in the drill holes that are abandoned after use. I stick to television whenever such a tragedy strikes. TV and other gadgets require electricity. Like most households I need my own alternative to the electricity supply. Most have invertors, some even have generators. I have both for my clinic, but neither for my home.
Most of us have our own water storage system that is meant to store water in surplus to avert a crisis; once through we don’t mind wasting water the most useful commodity on earth. Since we live in a rented house, where an underground tank was not constructed, we were the only one to face the problem when silt clogged the incoming channels after incessant rain. We did a little bit of “water harvesting” by keeping small pots under the front porch.
The water that I get is not fit for drinking or cooking. Therefore I have installed an aqua-guard purifying system in my house. But it gets clogged very frequently. My kids need boiled water to ward off gastrointestinal upsets. I have seen the municipal water purifying plant- lesser said the better. When I raised that issue with authorities few years ago, everyone mocked as apparently I “could not afford” even an aqua guard for my family. Mine turned out to be the loan voice.
The vegetables and fruits I get are far from the best: not only do they contain pesticides through contaminated water, but worse. I see bright green peas in the market. You soak them and the colour goes off. I got adulterated stuff recently during a festive season.
On TV I see, how one can make a fortune by adulterating harmful chemicals to milk. I wish I had space to cultivate my own crops and owned my own cattles. But farming space is dwindling not because of increased demand for land for housing, but due to “investment” in property as there are no land reforms or land management policy.
I am a doctor, but realize that availing the best medical care is elusive in India for most even as India pushes itself as a destination for “health tourism”.
My kids go to a decent school, but most of the formal and informal education in true sense is looked after by us – the parents.
Recently we had a theft in our house. We had to collect the facts about the suspects. Even when we handed over a fifty page dossier to the police, they wanted us to hire a vehicle to be used in a raid. We complied, the suspects were nabbed. Our stolen articles were retrieved according to the press reports, but in reality only “restolen” by the police from the culprit’s house.
I pay taxes. But unlike many, I do not have a parallel “invisible” economy. I wonder why should I, if everything has to be arranged on our own. Over the years, I have developed several abilities that are taken for granted in other countries. If I have to fetch my own water, dump my garbage safely, rear my own cows to ensure qulaity milk supply, cultivate my crop, generate electricity when there is electric failure, be my own policeman, tell me what should I do?
Should I stop paying my taxes?
When I am the one to fix most of my problems, tell me why shouldn’t my house qualify to be the smallest (and youngest) republic of the world?
Why not?
Any one interested in being a citizen? Apply with a detailed account of the skills you posses to survive.
::
I am a common (Indian) man.
I live in a neighborhood where there is no drainage. People constructed houses but did not leave any space for draining channels; instead they encroached part of the road as well. As a result the road is very congested.
The garbage from my house is collected by a woman who brings a cart. I recently realized that the garbage is dumped in a canal which was once meant for irrigating the fields. As a result it often gets choked by polythene bags. Most of my neighbors discuss, we don’t have civic sense when we visit each other. Then we turn a blind eye to the problem.
When I was a kid, I had learnt about the civic amenities in ancient India especially the roads, the drainage system and the houses. But thousands of years later, we still struggle, basking in past glory!
I own a car and a bike – not because I was too fond of these, but because a public transport never existed in my town. People have more vehicles per capita than I have. That doesn’t help because finally those vehicles have to be driven on the same dilapidated roads.
I hear about how toddlers fall in the drill holes that are abandoned after use. I stick to television whenever such a tragedy strikes. TV and other gadgets require electricity. Like most households I need my own alternative to the electricity supply. Most have invertors, some even have generators. I have both for my clinic, but neither for my home.
Most of us have our own water storage system that is meant to store water in surplus to avert a crisis; once through we don’t mind wasting water the most useful commodity on earth. Since we live in a rented house, where an underground tank was not constructed, we were the only one to face the problem when silt clogged the incoming channels after incessant rain. We did a little bit of “water harvesting” by keeping small pots under the front porch.
The water that I get is not fit for drinking or cooking. Therefore I have installed an aqua-guard purifying system in my house. But it gets clogged very frequently. My kids need boiled water to ward off gastrointestinal upsets. I have seen the municipal water purifying plant- lesser said the better. When I raised that issue with authorities few years ago, everyone mocked as apparently I “could not afford” even an aqua guard for my family. Mine turned out to be the loan voice.
The vegetables and fruits I get are far from the best: not only do they contain pesticides through contaminated water, but worse. I see bright green peas in the market. You soak them and the colour goes off. I got adulterated stuff recently during a festive season.
On TV I see, how one can make a fortune by adulterating harmful chemicals to milk. I wish I had space to cultivate my own crops and owned my own cattles. But farming space is dwindling not because of increased demand for land for housing, but due to “investment” in property as there are no land reforms or land management policy.
I am a doctor, but realize that availing the best medical care is elusive in India for most even as India pushes itself as a destination for “health tourism”.
My kids go to a decent school, but most of the formal and informal education in true sense is looked after by us – the parents.
Recently we had a theft in our house. We had to collect the facts about the suspects. Even when we handed over a fifty page dossier to the police, they wanted us to hire a vehicle to be used in a raid. We complied, the suspects were nabbed. Our stolen articles were retrieved according to the press reports, but in reality only “restolen” by the police from the culprit’s house.
I pay taxes. But unlike many, I do not have a parallel “invisible” economy. I wonder why should I, if everything has to be arranged on our own. Over the years, I have developed several abilities that are taken for granted in other countries. If I have to fetch my own water, dump my garbage safely, rear my own cows to ensure qulaity milk supply, cultivate my crop, generate electricity when there is electric failure, be my own policeman, tell me what should I do?
Should I stop paying my taxes?
When I am the one to fix most of my problems, tell me why shouldn’t my house qualify to be the smallest (and youngest) republic of the world?
Why not?
Any one interested in being a citizen? Apply with a detailed account of the skills you posses to survive.
::
Friday, August 21, 2009
Can you tell me where is Bangalore?
Flight from Bangalore to Buffalo lands at Baghdad...
Bangalore....
I last heard that name in President Barrack Obama's speech where he wanted American kids to be more serious with their studies so that certain kind of jobs are not outsourced to Bangalore or Beijing....
I hope now the reader understands which Bangalore I am trying to recall.
Some people have renamed it as Bangaluru, its original name. However a change of name can not change the character of a city. Can it?
A muslim girl lives in Bangalore. She was interviewed in a college for admission to a graduate programme. She wore a burqua to her interview. The Principal of the college was present there.
Now after her admission some fundamentalists wanted her first to stop wearing her burqua and then even the scarf over her head. When she did not, the Principal, unable to withstand the wrath of fundamentalists asked her to stop coming to college. That was his wisdom. The Vice Chancellor of the University finds this to be a disciplinary issue beyond their control.
Do you still think this is the same Bangalore that was perceived to be a threat to the kids in Buffalo?
Or is this Bangaluru (no offence to those who support any of the names), a place somewhere near Baghdad?
What should one wear is a personal choice in a democracy.
You don't win elections this way: even if you indulge in introspection exercises after debacle. Introspect and also take issues and not non issues! Thou shall win!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
MEDICAL TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY IN INDIA
Few years ago I had heard of an Irish girl seeking the court’s permission to travel to the United Kingdom for terminating her pregnancy following a rape. Here are some case reports of how the issue of abortion is handled in India:
Case I
A mentally challenged woman conceives through rape. A high court in India approves abortion. She has a counsel. (I do not know how she put across her views to the lawyer if she indeed was significantly challenged mentally). They appeal against the verdict citing the victim’s right to maternity. A person who doesn’t have any biological relative should be allowed to have one, the lawyer argued.
The Supreme Court allowed the woman to maintain her pregnancy. I am not sure if she understands the consequences.
Case II
A couple sought the intervention of the court in Mumbai when they learnt their unborn child may have congenital cardiac abnormalities. The court turns down the appeal as the pregnancy is at a rather advanced stage & the likelihood of congenital defects only a possibility that is not established beyond doubt.
The couple is dejected but later has a “spontaneous abortion”.
Case III
A Pediatric intensivist from Delhi’s Escort’s heart institute & research centre (EHIRC) informally shares with me a case of a Gynecologist who went ahead with medical termination of a very advanced (8 months’ plus) pregnancy when she learnt the baby (fetus) had a “patent foramen ovale” reported on an ultrasound!
Foramen ovale is a natural passage meant to support the blood circulation in a fetus: it closes spontaneously after birth. A student of anatomy (subject taught in the first year of MBBS) is supposed to know this elementary fact.
No violation of law, since nothing is official about it!
Case IV
In my own town a prominent clinic resorted to MTP after a triple test (read about the ambiguity of the test in special circumstances in my comments) suggested a possibility of Down’s syndrome. Incidentally, the woman had been treated with certain hormonal preparations including the human chorionic gonadotriphins for her recurrent fetal loss. Whether this could have skewed the test result was not looked into.
Case I
A mentally challenged woman conceives through rape. A high court in India approves abortion. She has a counsel. (I do not know how she put across her views to the lawyer if she indeed was significantly challenged mentally). They appeal against the verdict citing the victim’s right to maternity. A person who doesn’t have any biological relative should be allowed to have one, the lawyer argued.
The Supreme Court allowed the woman to maintain her pregnancy. I am not sure if she understands the consequences.
Case II
A couple sought the intervention of the court in Mumbai when they learnt their unborn child may have congenital cardiac abnormalities. The court turns down the appeal as the pregnancy is at a rather advanced stage & the likelihood of congenital defects only a possibility that is not established beyond doubt.
The couple is dejected but later has a “spontaneous abortion”.
Case III
A Pediatric intensivist from Delhi’s Escort’s heart institute & research centre (EHIRC) informally shares with me a case of a Gynecologist who went ahead with medical termination of a very advanced (8 months’ plus) pregnancy when she learnt the baby (fetus) had a “patent foramen ovale” reported on an ultrasound!
Foramen ovale is a natural passage meant to support the blood circulation in a fetus: it closes spontaneously after birth. A student of anatomy (subject taught in the first year of MBBS) is supposed to know this elementary fact.
No violation of law, since nothing is official about it!
Case IV
In my own town a prominent clinic resorted to MTP after a triple test (read about the ambiguity of the test in special circumstances in my comments) suggested a possibility of Down’s syndrome. Incidentally, the woman had been treated with certain hormonal preparations including the human chorionic gonadotriphins for her recurrent fetal loss. Whether this could have skewed the test result was not looked into.
Interestingly, the said MTP was undertaken as the pregnancy was at an advanced age!!
In a suspected case of Down’s syndrome, there are better ways than a triple test to determine the risk: chorionic villi sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis.
But such is never the practice in tier II or III cities in India! I seldom see physicians sending in their patients for such screening or genetic counseling.
Why refer when you can have an abortion in the city is the norm for most.
As father of a child with congenital disease, I feel the law needs to be reviewed.
In a suspected case of Down’s syndrome, there are better ways than a triple test to determine the risk: chorionic villi sampling (CVS) and amniocentesis.
But such is never the practice in tier II or III cities in India! I seldom see physicians sending in their patients for such screening or genetic counseling.
Why refer when you can have an abortion in the city is the norm for most.
As father of a child with congenital disease, I feel the law needs to be reviewed.
What do you feel?
Please put across your views.
Please put across your views.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)