prasad1
Active member
On May 22, Dr Payal Tadvi, a 26-year-old oppressed caste Muslim gynaecologist, died by suicide in Mumbai. Earlier that day, she had apparently performed two surgeries and spoken to her mother on the phone.
For months leading up to her death, she had told her family that she was being harassed by three “upper” caste women doctors. They allegedly went to the toilet and then wiped their feet on her bed, called her casteist slurs, made fun of her for being a tribal on WhatsApp groups and threatened to not allow her to enter operation theatres or perform deliveries. A few hours before she took her life, she had reportedly told her mother, once again, about this harassment.
From Rohith Vemula, a PhD student and Dalit who took his own life in Hyderabad in 2016, to Payal Tadvi, caste discrimination followed by suicides is an enduring phenomenon in Indian educational institutions, including medical schools.
But the top leadership of India’s largest doctor’s body – the Indian Medical Association (IMA) – is of the view that there is no real problem of caste discrimination in the profession.
“There is no caste discrimination in Indian medical field,” says Dr Shantanu Sen, the current president of the IMA, categorically. “On the administrative side, there is some reservation in seats…” he says. When asked, he clarifies that he doesn’t mean to say that reservation is casteism.
Other top IMA leaders echo his views: “We have not heard of a level of caste discrimination that requires attention,” says Dr Ashokan, current national general secretary of this union.
Is this because caste discrimination among doctors doesn’t exist or because the IMA is not an environment where oppressed caste doctors feel comfortable to participate freely? When asked if the IMA has ever checked how many Scheduled Caste doctors are either members of the IMA or office bearers such as himself, Ashokan bursts into laughter and says, “Why should we do?”
thewire.in
For months leading up to her death, she had told her family that she was being harassed by three “upper” caste women doctors. They allegedly went to the toilet and then wiped their feet on her bed, called her casteist slurs, made fun of her for being a tribal on WhatsApp groups and threatened to not allow her to enter operation theatres or perform deliveries. A few hours before she took her life, she had reportedly told her mother, once again, about this harassment.
From Rohith Vemula, a PhD student and Dalit who took his own life in Hyderabad in 2016, to Payal Tadvi, caste discrimination followed by suicides is an enduring phenomenon in Indian educational institutions, including medical schools.
But the top leadership of India’s largest doctor’s body – the Indian Medical Association (IMA) – is of the view that there is no real problem of caste discrimination in the profession.
“There is no caste discrimination in Indian medical field,” says Dr Shantanu Sen, the current president of the IMA, categorically. “On the administrative side, there is some reservation in seats…” he says. When asked, he clarifies that he doesn’t mean to say that reservation is casteism.
Other top IMA leaders echo his views: “We have not heard of a level of caste discrimination that requires attention,” says Dr Ashokan, current national general secretary of this union.
Is this because caste discrimination among doctors doesn’t exist or because the IMA is not an environment where oppressed caste doctors feel comfortable to participate freely? When asked if the IMA has ever checked how many Scheduled Caste doctors are either members of the IMA or office bearers such as himself, Ashokan bursts into laughter and says, “Why should we do?”
Even After Payal Tadvi’s Death, Doctors' Body Unconvinced of Caste Discrimination
India’s medical community would be well served if doctors as well as trade unions like the IMA sensitised themselves to the prevalence of caste-based oppression.
thewire.in
