‘Don’t Know Which Country I Belong To’: Account of a Doctor in J&K

The doctor said that under curfew, the sustenance of medical facilities will prove difficult.

Lal Chowk in Srinagar has been cordoned off with barbed wires 

(Photo: Shadab Moizee/The Quint)

Video editor: Purnendu Pritam

While the authorities and the administration claimed that Eid celebrations on Monday, 12 August, in Jammu and Kashmir were peaceful, The Quint found remarkable despondence and fear on ground.

“There is no environment or desire to celebrate Eid now because people are not happy. People have been sieged. They don’t see this Eid as a mark of happiness for the nation,” a doctor working at a hospital in J&K told us.

Refusing to speak on camera, the doctor expressed fear and said, “This interview is also in a risk. I am taking the risk of giving an interview right now. I don't know where I am or which country I belong. And I don't know where I will go.”

‘Several Pellet Victims’

The doctor claimed that 10-15 cases of pellet gun injuries and 2-3 cases of bullet injuries have been registered at the hospital in which he works.

“There was a lady who was brought in for suffocation due to a tear gas shell. She was a Dilated Cardiomyopathy patient. We tried to revive her but it was too late,” he said.

He added that under curfew, the sustenance of medical facilities will prove difficult.

“We are only open for emergency surgeries and all the wards have been directed that only emergencies will be treated and not the elective surgeries because we can't sustain it for long. We'll run out of fuel, equipment, medicine and food,” he said.

'I Don't Know What Normal Is Anymore'

An eerie calm has ensconced Jammu and Kashmir since the crackdown last week, and the doctor foresees a worsening of the state of affairs.

“I am not hopeful for any change. I think it is going to go downhill from here. If they open up the situation and let people through, then people are going to protest, and they will die. It is going to spiral out of control now,” he said, adding that the government needs to come up with a resolution.

Silence, Barricades and Restrictions

The iron curtain of the restrictions in Jammu & Kashmir can be exemplified by the fact that the doctor has not been able to contact his family or go home for eight days now.

“I haven’t been able to contact my family in the past eight days. I don’t know where they are or what they are doing. No one is allowed to go through... It’s a risk to go home and come back.”