Hospitals are not just buildings, they are the last refuge of the suffering, the first hope of the wounded, and the quiet backbone of any civilized society. When these sanctuaries are compromised, it is not merely a security lapse; it is a moral collapse. The recent inspections of lockers and wards in Jammu and Kashmir’s premier medical institutions are not acts of intrusion; they are acts of preservation. Preservation of public trust, of institutional dignity, and of the sacred covenant between healer and healed.
The revelation that a few medical professionals may have been complicit in terror-linked activities is not just alarming; it is corrosive. It corrodes the very idea that some spaces should remain untouched by such activities. It forces us to confront a brutal truth: that even the most respected roles in society can be weaponized when vigilance is abandoned.
In Kashmir, where every institution is already burdened by layers of scrutiny and suspicion, hospitals must rise above. They must be fortresses of transparency, not fortresses of secrecy. The idea that a stethoscope could hang beside a rifle, that a prescription pad could share drawer space with ammunition, is not just grotesque; it is a betrayal of everything the medical profession stands for.
Society cannot afford to be sentimental about oversight. The sanctity of hospitals must be earned daily; not assumed. Locker checks, ward audits, and surveillance protocols are not insults to professionalism; they are shields against infiltration. They are the difference between a hospital that heals and a hospital that harbours.
This is not about casting doubt on the entire medical fraternity. It is about protecting the thousands of honest, exhausted and devoted healthcare workers who deserve to work in institutions free from suspicion and fear.
Public trust is not a renewable resource; it is fragile, finite, and fiercely earned. Once broken, it takes generations to rebuild. And in a place like ours, where every act of trust is a political and emotional gamble, we cannot afford to lose even one more institution to negligence.
Hospitals are not neutral spaces. They represent the possibility of care amid chaos, of humanity amid hostility. When that symbol is tainted, the damage is not just operational; it is psychological. It tells the people that there is no safe space left, not even in the arms of those sworn to save lives. Security in hospitals must evolve beyond tokenism. It must be embedded in culture, in accountability, in the daily rituals of vigilance.
Let us not wait for another scandal to remind us of what is at stake. Let us not allow complacency to become complicity. The time to act is now; not with fear, but with clarity. Not with suspicion, but with structure. Not to punish, but to protect. because if we cannot keep our hospitals safe, then we have already surrendered the soul of our society.
Let this moment be a turning point. Let it be the day we decided that hospitals are not just places of treatment but places of truth. That every corridor must echo with integrity. That every locker must be a vault of trust; and that the people of this land, weary yet resilient, deserve institutions that heal without hiding, serve without fear and stand without compromise.