Mr Ram Kisan Yadav’s recent jibe with allopathic medicine and allopathic doctors created a furore in the media and public. It is definitely more than a mere act of stupidity—well crafted and predetermined. A close inspection of the entire episode will lead us to the following glaring inferences—bold, flagrant and with distasteful revelations.
1.Formal education and institutionalised training are not mandatory for a profession.
Ram Kishan Yadav’s public announcement and a brazen declaration that he is a doctor by divinity and dignity, opens new possibilities for people dreaming to make easy money in this profession; no formal qualification required, a bit of divinity or dignity is all that required though I am unable to understand what’s divine or dignified in showering invectives at doctors.
2.The ground is now prepared well for Mixopathy.
This insolence from a self-proclaimed poster boy of Ayurved and a patronized arm of the government’s nationalist agenda will provide much-needed nourishment to the naïve sapling of Mixopathy, another doltish sting of policymaker to propagate what they thought, out of their nativity, will be a good move. Or perhaps they have a greater vested interest in advocating foolishness such as bridge-course and stuff like that. Mixopathy has received stiff resistance from IMA and this latest row over Allopathy vs Ayurved will force the doctor’s lobby on the back foot in the face of public outcry that Ramdev’s tryst with them has the capacity to generate. IMA will be cornered and more amenable to meet on a middle ground.
3.Religion is not the only tool available to facilitate the policy of divide and rule.
There has been a systematic, continual approach to keep away from the core issues of development and always employ divergent tactics whenever a situation arises that demands competence of governance, whenever there is failure glaring at our faces. Religion is an age-old and time-tested tool of religious misunderstanding that has been employed to facilitate such divergence in the past. The current shameless theatrics of Mr Ramdev to derogate the allopathic medicine and its doctors openly and brazenly and at a time when the public mood is gloomy, vulnerable and exposed due to the havoc caused by the pandemic, where many are still mourning the losses of their family members and loved ones, has opened new avenues of creating the divide and keep the public busy as if saying with a mocking arrogance that if its not Hindu-Muslim so what we can play Ayurved and allopathy, then perhaps continue it with Convent and Gurukul if need be.
On an even more serious note, we are now entering an era that will see increasing clashes between doctors and patients thanks to episodes like these. These events will worsen the doctor-patient relationship and instigate them to violent behaviour for not fulfilling their unrealistic expectations. Imagine someone preaching not to take medicines prescribed by a qualified doctor or worse take as per the whims of an unqualified quack and expect result as per the desires of the patient nor not what the nature of the disease prognosticates.
Ramdev is a shrewd businessman who knows how to exploit public sentiments and how to utilise political connections to better his own interest, nothing wrong with this on a worldly parameter but then why call him a swami or Baba.
Dr Shishir Srivastav
Author Of Rage Against The Dying Of The Light
You must be logged in to post a comment.