The scene is straight out of a Bollywood movie. A minister (Vishwajit Rane) storms into the Emergency Room of a hospital, entourage and media team in tow. He sits arrogantly in the doctor’s chair and lines up the staff, and singles out one hapless doctor for special treatment. He immediately launches into a tirade, berating and belittling the doctor for alleged lapses in treatment. The doctor’s crime? Allegedly not administering a vitamin injection to a patient. The rest of the hospital staff watch in stunned silence as the minister continues to threaten and bully the doctor in front of the camera, using crude language and a menacing tone.
Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes. And as much as we would like to believe that such hellish scenes happen only in the movies, the sad reality is that this drama unfolded in Goa Medical College on Saturday, 7th June. In the early hours of Sunday, my WhatsApp suddenly exploded with videos of the incident, accompanied by angry forwards. I watched the video with a sense of disbelief, which gave way to shame and finally anger. The minister’s behaviour, his tone and demeanour were more reminiscent of a goonda from 90s Bollywood potboiler than a public servant.
The minister’s excuse? He had been contacted by a journalist whose elderly relative was denied a routine injection on a public holiday. His understanding of casualty procedures, routine vs emergency treatments, or of what the injection itself was for? Probably zero. His arrogance and entitlement despite this lack of knowledge? Infinity.
There was an outpouring of outrage and indignation from the medical fraternity and the general public, which forced the minister in question to issue a half-baked apology. In his version of events, he was moved by the plight of a poor and elderly patient who was ill-treated and ignored by arrogant and uncaring doctors, which forced him to act the way he did. He took on a messianic tone, lamenting the bad behaviour of doctors in the country, portraying himself as some sort of quixotic saviour or champion of the masses who are suffering at the hands of doctors. His conceited sorry-not-sorry explanation drew even more ire from the medical community, which then threatened to go on strike. Rane finally relented, almost 48 hours after the sorry spectacle unfolded, and issued a semblance of a public apology.
Not enough, Mr. Rane. Not by a long shot.
Your forced apology is as meaningless as your fake principles. Let’s try to recreate what really happened.
You received a message from a journalist ‘friend’ (minister-speak for crony) who wanted to use his privilege and connections to benefit his relative, and utilise the emergency services of a tertiary care centre for a routine non-emergency procedure. When the doctor turned them down, you decided to exploit the situation to your benefit. Which is why you landed there flanked by a media team, with the explicit intent of making a spectacle, and you found a ready scapegoat. You wanted to be the star of this film that you were scripting, the unsung hero who fights for the poor and needy, to the clapping and cheering of the adoring plebeians. No, Mr. Rane. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you are just another opportunistic politician who saw a cheap shot at publicity and took it with gleeful malice. You demanded for humility from that poor doctor in the most arrogant, conceited way possible. You took the extrajudicial step of ordering his suspension without even giving him a chance to defend himself. You used crass language to intimidate and threaten him, exposing your own filthy mindset in the process.
And worst of all, in your smug hubris, you assumed that you would get away with it. That people would fall for your charade of being the common man’s Messiah. That doctors and the medical fraternity at large would take it lying down. That we would meekly wring our hands in despair at your brazen, unhinged power trip.
We doctors are tired of these high-handed shenanigans Mr. Minister. We see through the bluster and bravado. We are always ready to work tirelessly and selflessly, but we refuse to dance to your tunes. We are willing to take responsibility for our mistakes, but we refuse to be policed by you. We serve with pride, but we refuse to be your servants.
