Slap, Strike, Scuffle

A patient gasped for breath. Time was life. Srinagar’s busy hospital was crowded and chaotic. Junior doctors, left to manage without adequate support, tried their best, or maybe they just tried. The patient died. Grief exploded. And in a tragic twist, a grieving attendant slapped a doctor in a moment of uncontrolled anguish. Something wrong. Gross. Unjustifiable.

But what followed was worse. The medical staff, instead of rising above, went on strike, leaving other patients unattended. Some were in critical condition. Some waited hours without care. Lives were pushed to the edge, again.

And then came another shocker. The news dropped that when media persons arrived to cover the incident, they were hustled by doctors themselves, the very people trusted to touch lives with care, not fists. White coats were crusted that day, not with blood, but with anger.

Let us not pretend this was just another brawl. This was a breach of the valued trust between doctors and society. Yes, healthcare workers are under immense pressure. Yes, they face long hours, poor facilities and often no protection from hostility. But strike and scuffle from them is an entirely different kind of crisis. If the reports about the operation theatre being shut down during the protest are true, it signifies a shocking collapse of human empathy and a grave betrayal of the work ethic that defines this critical profession.

The white coat is not a costume. It’s a pledge. And those who wear it cannot behave like street fighters in moments of challenge. The slap from a patient’s attendant was deplorable. But when doctors go on strike, and allegedly also assault members of the press, it shifts the lens. Now the question becomes not who was hurt first, but who forgot their role first.

Perhaps, docs missed the opportunity. This could have been a moment of moral leadership. Instead of stopping work or silencing the media, imagine if the doctors had stood before the cameras and spoken the truth. They could have exposed the crumbling infrastructure. Showed how junior doctors were being overstretched, overworked. Highlighted how hospitals run on borrowed staff, outdated machines and hope alone. The entire public would have listened. Instead, they chose confrontation. The message was lost. And with it, public sympathy, to certain extent.

Medicine is not just another job. It is a solemn calling. And in that calling, empathy must outweigh ego. Of course, doctors are not expected to be saints. But they are expected to be steady, especially when storms hit. When patients or families cross the line, it is the responsibility of the doctor to hold the line. To go on strike in response to violent behaviour may seem like a form of protest. But when lives are involved, it becomes negligence. The sick cannot be made pawns in a power struggle between rage and reason.

All of this, the chaos, the slap, the strike, the scuffle, stems from a deeper crisis: the chronic illness of our public healthcare system. Hospitals are understaffed. Emergency rooms are mismanaged. Junior doctors are left alone with no mentors. Security is missing. Patients are frustrated. Doctors are burned out. It’s a recipe for disaster, and now, it’s cooking daily. But the solution is not retaliation. It’s reform. Loud, urgent, unapologetic reform.

We need to redraw the lines. Violence against doctors must carry strict legal consequences. Boycott belligerence by doctors must also be condemned, openly. Reliable media must be permissible. A code of conduct must apply to all stakeholders, from doctors to journalists to attendants. Medical students must be trained not just in anatomy, but in anger management, conflict resolution and emotional resilience.

The Hippocratic Oath is not just about “doing no harm.” It’s about upholding honour under pressure. Our doctors must remind themselves that medicine is about humanity, not hierarchy. It’s about rising above pain, not reacting to it. In a collapsing system, doctors are often the last line of hope. But if even that line breaks, who will the people turn to? The emergency room is not a battlefield. It is a place of life and death. And it must remain revered. No matter what, patient must come first.