The singer-doctor backs the agitating doctors in West Bengal
Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; June 17, 2019)

Joining the medical fraternity across the country, which has stood up in support of the doctors who are on strike in West Bengal since Thursday, singer and doctor Palash Sen shared a video on social media in which he called for the protection of doctors and shared similar incidents from his past. Junior doctors in West Bengal have been on strike after two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, were attacked by the relatives of a patient who died at the hospital. In the video, the singer, who studied at University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) in Delhi, says, “I stand with the doctors in West Bengal.”

Telling us about two incidents when his father and a friend were assaulted, Palash says, “This happened in the late 1970s, when my father was a physician at Northern Railway Central Hospital. He was assaulted by the relatives of a patient who had died due to cardiac arrest. The relatives got unruly and hurled abuses, but my father did not say anything. When he came back home and told us about the incident, my mom asked him why he didn’t retaliate. My father said that it is difficult to lose a loved one and he understood their pain, so he let it go. A few years later, when I was studying at UCMS and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi, one of my female friends faced a similar assault when a dead patient was brought to the hospital. Things got out of hand and all of us retaliated, but within few minutes, the police reached and helped us,” says Palash.

“What happened in Kolkata is unfortunate because people who are supposed to be protecting you are being assaulted and nobody is doing anything,” he adds.

Questioning the lack of security for doctors, Palash, says, “One can see a certain level of security checks at private hospitals, but people can come with as many relatives as they want at a government hospital. I think we need to first cut down the number of visitors with patients. Then, there should be police protection at all times in hospitals. The reality is that we, as doctors, can only treat a patient, we cannot cure someone because that is the job of God. Those who are protesting in Kolkata are all junior doctors who have just started their careers. We need to think of our future generation.”