I was reading the latest news of terror attacks in Afghanistan, during Ashura mourning. The news carried a photograph of a girl barely eight, looking with disbelief, at the dead bodies strewn all around her. With her clothes drenched in blood, she was in a complete state of shock and visibly numb. Deeply pained with that sight I thought, what could be worse than a child that young having to witness such inhuman acts of violence? I was struggling hard to get that heart wrenching picture out of my mind and then arrived the shocking news of tragedy at AMRI hospital at Calcutta.
Some incidents are far too painful to comprehend! How can we justify loss of 90 precious lives, charred to death at the hospital? I stopped watching news on television as the visuals were too uncomfortable. People who went for treatment at the place that is supposed to give a new life, met with such horrible death!
Like it happens every time after any tragedy strikes, we have a long list of reasons and flaws that are being established and blame games are changing with each passing day. There is clear repudiation of laws and glaring neglect of safety issues by the hospital. It is shocking that even medical staff, except a very few, abandoned their patients and ran for their own safety during this grim incident.
Who all are the culprits in this episode? Hospital, for its complete disregard for certain rules and for not having a speedy evacuation program meant for the most crucial time like emergencies. Respective authorities, for allowing hospital to bend rules (suddenly, the authorities have realized that certain part of the hospital is unauthorized! I wonder how come this was not noticed and reported before the tragedy struck?) To some extent, medical staff that could have perhaps dealt with this tragedy in much better way and saved few lives. And, us.
Yeah, we as society, are responsible in some way for this tragedy. How often do we bend rules for our convenience and take things for granted as we think everything can be purchased and fixed by money and power. We thrive in the culture of "sab kuch chalta hain". We take pride in being "smart" and "practical" (read, manipulative and corrupt). Greed and corruption are so deeply ingrained in our DNA that we have forgotten where to draw line. We are too obsessed with our own survival to care for anything wrong that is happening around us. We have learnt to ignore things that are blatantly wrong but don't affect us. Why take panga (why bother)?
Do I need to give any example of how our system is rotting with corruption? Even a school going kid knows that one can get away with crime by offering some money. Of course, we have rules and stringent punishments for the law breakers. Is any amount of monetary compensation ever enough to make up for loss of life?
Accidents happen. At times, tragedies occur out of sheer accidents that are beyond anyone's control. We need to ask ourselves; how comfortably numb we are going to be, consumed by our greed? How far will we continue to be mere silent spectators? NOBODY deserves to die the way people died at AMRI hospital and till such loss of precious human life continues, I doubt we can call ourselves a civilized society.
