Letter from AIIMS student

[Kishore]

Friends,



Please spend some time to read this. You can make a difference.



As all you guys know, there have beeen lot of protests going on against the raise in reservations. All of us stuggle for months and years to make our dreams come true; nobody in the government is bothered about that. This new policy of govt will be a major road block in the development of our nation and creation of a caste free society. I want to share some developments occurring here with respect to this issue.



About 2 weeks back the Students Union (SU) of AIIMS (UGs and Interns) started the protests. They held a peaceful march. Their main demand was to meet Honbl. Arjun Singh and to express their concern regarding the hike in reservations. What did they get in return? Water canons, tear gas shells and lathis. Some of the interns who were beaten were my friends and I could see their injury marks. Worse, some were girls. Sad, isn't it ?



Well, over the next few days, due to their constant struggle, they could get to meet Dr Arjun Singh. No positive response was obtained. He however promised that before sending the bill to cabinet, he would inform the SU. The students continued to boycott their classes. Other medical colleges of Delhi also joined. We Resident Doctors of AIIMS however were not actively participating. We wore black badges and attended few rallies.



12th May saw a new beginning. Our medical students were brutally assaulted by the Delhi police. Injured were brought to AIIMS. Fracture hand bone, head injury, blunt trauma abdomen with intra-abdominal bleed; > 300 students including girls were manhandled, stuffed in buses and taken to police station.



I remember the dialogue from RDB. This incident will prove to be a final nail in coffin for our Congress Govt.



At around 3 pm the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of AIIMS announced an indefinite strike. All Junior Residents (Acad or Non-acad) & Senior Residents boycotted. Protest rally was organized that day.



13th May was the worst day in the history of our Indian Independence and so called Democracy. Medical Students of Mumbai were beaten like animals. In fact animals also are never treated like this. Everybody would have witness the brutality of the Mumbai Police. 17-18 year old medical students were beaten up. The future of our country treated like this? And these are the same policemen who come to our OPD and ask for peferential treatment. Shame on them.



And listen to what Bhujbal said on TV. I thought we need a real RDB now. This incident triggered the suppressed fire in each and every individual.



We at AIIMS went on INDEFINITE HUNGER STRIKE from 14 th morning joined by medical students from MAMC Delhi, Lady Harding, RML Hosp, Rohtak Medical College. Slowly the fire spread to different states of our country. You know what happened - Blore, Calcutta, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Gujrat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala boiled in protests. Students of Delhi University (BSc, BCom...) also joined the strike.



The hunger strike in AIIMS continues. More than 100 students and residents are sitting in the heat since 14th morning just on plain water. Believe me we slept in the open last night empty stomach. It's only when rain started pouring we had go inside the audi and slept there.



The IMA has announced complete medical bandh today (15th May). Doctors from all over Delhi have come to AIIMS and are holding protests. IITs and IIMs have joined the strike. Even patients and their attenders were of full support towards this cause. One man said, "My father is admitted in NS department and is fighting for his life and death, but I declare that I have no objection with your strike. I support your movement and the cause for which you are fighting. Our country needed this."



All of us know what is right and what is wrong. Having said that I feel that each one of us should follow our conscience. I've written this message because I felt there are many of who might not be aware of the exact situation. I request each one of you to please forward this to all your friends, medicos or non-medicos. Every common man needs to be aware of the injustice and should be involved in this effort.



This Movement will be a revolution in our independent country and will be the most significant event after the British Rule. It'll be the cause for the rewriting of the Indian Constitution where just and meritorious people are not singled out and put to taste the adversities and someone else enjoys the benefit.



The government cannot hide its inadequacies in providing equal opportunities to the underpriviliged in rural areas by increasing the reservations. They have ruled the country for so many decades and if in this time they are not able to provide equalilty in primary and secondary education for Indian citizens, they cannot mask their failure by providing reservations at each and every level. It's ridiculous. The whole issue of reservations was a political gimmick of the present govt to garner votes.



It's time that things are not taken for granted by anyone. Let it be a senior minister, police or anyone else. The whole of our nation needs to get aware of the amount of hardwork and sacrifice we put to achieve our dreams. We should not allow anyone to make a mockery of our struggle in future.



Thank you, friends.



Dr Kiran

Junior Resident

Internal Medicine

All India Institute Of Medical Sciences

New Delhi

[BigDaddy]

I have forwarded the message to all my contacts. This is a serious issue. India was kept back from economic prosperity due to politicians and just when India's growth story started to pick up they are trying their best to derail it. Every political party is equally responsible for this. What is needed is a strong movement in the country to force these skums to appoint a committee of eminent persons who will study what the policy of reservation has achieved in the last 60 years and what are its failures. Evolve a new policy which will really benefit the targeted sections of the society instead and which will not harm the meritorious students and citizens. Make this a mass movement... Join the movement.