Daily Times

The culture of arrogance has turned Pakistan into a nation of confused people. Everyone is trying to prove something, without knowing what exactly to prove. So did the MPA who slapped the doctor in Faisalabad for being disrespectful. These are no mean professions. If the parliamentarians are given the responsibility to provide a protective and vibrant society to their constituents, the doctors are expected to keep the body and soul of their patients together. Both these responsibilities cannot be performed without having respect for human dignity. Over the years we have seen our society decaying in human values. Though we have formed the habit of blaming the economic conditions of the country for the altered behaviours, the matter is not that simple. People had been poor in this region earlier, but rarely did they lose their strength of being good human beings. Neither could illiteracy be held responsible for the weakening of character. This subject needs proper research to get to the bottom of the problem, but what apparently seems ailing is the absence of selfless love for others. Like a machine we are manufacturing attitudes in patterns that best suit our narrow self-interests, regardless of their implications for others. It is easy in Pakistan to kill people for their religious affiliations. It is easy for a man to throw acid on his wife. It is easy for a parliamentarian to slap a doctor for not being respectful to him. It is equally easy for a doctor to leave his patients suffering in the Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) if his demands are not met by the government. Teachers are manhandled in this country, and the administration prefers taking actions against the teacher and not the student. It is madness without method.

What business did the MPA have to confront the doctor for his alleged misbehaviour with patients? If the MPA had received complaints against the doctor, the best way was to talk to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, or maybe the secretary health who is responsible for all the appointments in government hospitals. This is a typical Pakistani way of dealing with crises when in a position of power: becoming a law unto oneself. And if the MPA was genuinely in pain at finding his constituents mistreated by the doctor, and wanted to solve the situation head-on, then it should not have mattered if the doctor gave him proper protocol or not. Now the doctors have announced a strike in the OPD unless the MPA is removed from office. In the midst of all this, it will as usual be the poor patients who would be the worst hit. *