The Doda burqa row needs a fair inquiry, not slogans. Whoever is at fault must face the consequences.
The protest at Government Medical College Doda has turned a labour-room dispute into a religious debate. Both sides need to step back. The question is simple: what exactly happened?
Interns allege that a professor, Dr Madhu Chib, stopped burqa-clad students from entering the labour room. One student also alleged remarks linking the burqa to unlawful activity. Dr Chib denies any objection to religious dress and says the issue was the prescribed uniform. Officials say students were only asked to follow hygiene protocols. The college has formed an inquiry committee, and police are checking whether any rule was broken. None of these claims is proven yet.
The labour room has strict rules for good reason. Newborns and mothers are highly vulnerable to infection. Standard practice includes clean scrubs, a cap, a mask, sterile gloves, dedicated footwear and bare forearms for handwashing. Loose and long garments can touch sterile surfaces. These norms apply to every doctor, nurse and intern, whatever their faith. A hospital that enforces them is doing its duty.
But a hygiene rule cannot be a cover for prejudice. No teacher has the right to mock a student’s faith, to link a form of dress with crime or to humiliate a trainee in front of others. If the committee finds that Dr Chib made such remarks or singled out students for their religious dress, she must be punished. Her seniority and her position cannot be a shield. A professor is meant to teach and protect students, not to insult them.
The reverse also holds. If the inquiry finds that students were asked only to follow a uniform rule, and that the protest was staged for the sake of protest, the students should not be treated as enemies. They are young trainees. They deserve advice and counselling, not punishment alone. They should be told why labour-room rules exist, how a grievance can be raised through proper channels and why a work boycott in a maternity unit puts patients at risk. Some of them may have been led by emotion, social media or outside voices. A good institution corrects that with patience.
The administration must also do its part. It should publish the labour-room dress protocol in writing, so that no student can claim confusion and no teacher can claim discretion. It should make the committee’s findings public within a fixed time. A vague report will only keep the row alive.
Doda’s patients need a calm hospital. The inquiry should name the truth, act on it and let everyone return to work. Justice for a student and discipline for a professor are not rival demands. Both come from the same principle: rules must be fair and fairly applied.
