The Hospital Director had called me early morning and told me that a high security prisoner had been referred to our hospital and could I see him as early as possible? ( The police officials had just rang him up to arrange a consultation. ) The prisoner would be braught to the hospital at 9am sharp, he said.
I had an early breakfast at the cafeteria and was walking down the corridor with my colleagues when I saw the policemen outside my OPD.. Must have been at least 50 of them, serious, unsmiling and with mean machine guns. They barely ackowledged me as entered my room. And we waited for the patient to arrive. Usually such patients would be seen by the Chief but the boss is away on vacation.
The prisoner was accompanied by the Commissioner of Police. The Commissioner was blunt. He told me, “Just examine this patient, Dactoor, and give your treatment. Don”t ask him anything, not even his name.”
I studied the patient. He must have been around 30. In clean Arab robe and headgear. He had kindly eyes, a black beard and gentle demeanor . He reminded me of some Christian priests from Kottayam, back home. And later when I spoke to him, he replied in good English, with an American accent.He was shackled at his wrists and ankles and could barely walk. But he smiled at me and was polite.
And when I examined him I was in for a surprise. He has evidence of early malignancy ( cancer) in him. Lymph glands over his neck, enlarged, hard and shotty. My clinical examination was precise and I knew this guy was is in trouble, serious trouble. I did the investigations and ordered even more, scans and all the rest, the results to be seen by me later.
Later today I was told that my patient was once the mastermind of all terrorist activities in this country and in neighbouring countries too. Explosions, hijackings and the rest. He was an engineer and had some of his education in the US, and that he was from a rich family.
I was wondering what people do these days in the name of religion. Which god is pleased by the killing of innocent people? Orphaned children, and people whose lives have been destroyed by grievous wounds and horrible injuries.
May be my patient’s god has decided that enough was enough and has finally decided to call him back for all his troubles..
Terrorists are human beings too. May be they have lost their sense of right and wrong. What a thin line. It is sad that religion breeds the largest number of mass killers.
by saying that god would have punished for his deeds , u r indirectly saying that all who r suffering are being punished for their sins. That is not really the case- i seriously object to such thinking. I personally know of people who had not pained even and ant and are still suffering from serious illness. This attitude of reap what u sow is not always the case. High time we stopped relating bad deed with illness- NO not among literate persons atl east. Agreed that this particular case was probably looking as if he is paid for his deeds- but who knows- there are many who get away with it- no?
hi Anthony……..actually the trend going of running fast for achieving the goals…………in a shortcut way………is ruining……..the mentallity which is
soiling the soul………..n after that nothing leaves….. holly………only cruelty……………n it is scattering the whole mass………….nice thoughts………..b writing……….n thnx a lot for landing my iland………..hav a nice day……….bye
I do tend to go with the philosophy that we reap what we sow. That seems to be nature’’s law although it may not be very evident to us all the while.
May be as you have said that person’’s God has finally decided to call him back..but we shouldnt blindly judge anyone..each one of us have our own reasons for doing something..
I also dont understand why there is so much cruelty in this world.Religon is just an excuse.no religion teaches terrorism.
good post but you could write more about your feelings upon examining this patient.
In a very brief response to what you wrote I would begin by asking who and how was this person classified as a terrorist. If the person is classified as a terrorist by an oppressive and discriminating regime then that’s another analysis altogether. If the person is classified as a terrorist by a democratic government then that holds another response.
In a democratically elected government one has the opportunities however difficult to express ones political or social aims and objectives. The rationale to use extra parliamentary means is therefore removed. If the reason to use extra parliamentary means are removed then we must look for the motive for such terrorism.
We all know that the objective of using terror is to terrorize. The fact is that civilians are in the main the target of such terrorist acts. That being a fact can one therefore under any circumstances justify any act of terror against an innocent civilian population? The answer is a definite no.
As u have said may be the patient’’s God has decided to call him back for all his troubles..but we cant blindly judge anyone..everyone has their own reasons for their actions..
Sad story … But who’’sto blame for this sorry state of affairs? … Nobody’’s born a terrorist … I had seen in news on TV that a 6 year old child was kidnapped and trained to weild a gun … One can very well imagine what sort of an adult he would grow up to!