Sunday, April 24, 2016

Haram, Haraam! Suicide Haram!

I have been cranky and frustrated today but couldn't comprehend reason of it. I just figured it out. It's been too long I've written my heart out. Too much has happened in between but I'm exclusively sickened by a recent incident and reaction it has cultivated in medical community. A medical student from Agha khan committed suicide three days back and it has triggered a lot of reaction on social media. It's horrifying that suicide is on rise among medical students but what's outrageous is how most of the medical community reacts every time such incident happens. Now you assume that doctors would know better but you're strayed. Majority among them blames the victim, same like a layman does, in the name of religion. They condemn the way of ending life in such "haram" way. Apparently they raise awareness by propagating how victim should have kept belief in God. And many other "should have" and "would haves"  linger on social media, each propagating a whole new level of sickness. No one cares enough to point out distorted mental health that leads to suicide. No one bothers raising a question on system that puts this much pressure on students. No one gives a piece of mind to raise awareness about depression. All they do is to condemn a haram act. No wonder status of mental health is terrible in Pakistan. No wonder doctors lack empathy here. No wonder these people would become doctors not capable enough to feel the pain of a patient. You think I'm making gross generalizations? You feel I'm being a judgmental prick here? Do as it pleases you but I don't feel obliged to respect people who can't take a minute to empathize with a dead person just because his method of death lies in grey area of their beliefs. I don't feel obliged to respect people who have medical background yet they talk non-sense when it comes to mental health. I don't feel obliged to respect people who can't stretch their wit beyond what is  taught to them in the name of religion. A doctor should know better because he's going to handle such patients in future. A doctor should know better because he is trained to think differently than a layman. A doctor should know better because if he doesn't, public won't. But despite all this, if he does think like a layman, and blames a victim, he might be a good muslim but an abysmal professional. Period.