A 27-year-old junior doctor at AIIMS-Rishikesh is facing charges for “promoting hatred between different groups.” This happened because he gave out sweets at the hospital on April 23, just one day after a terrorist attack in Pahalgam where 26 people died.
Rajendra Pandey, the local leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Rishikesh, complained that giving sweets hurt people’s feelings and looked like a celebration of the attack. He said the doctor gave sweets to nurses and coworkers in the hospital’s emergency room. When asked why, the doctor said it was for Eid. But since Eid had been celebrated a month before, Pandey found this strange.
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Pandey and another group member, Naresh Uniyal from Bajrang Dal, protested at the hospital asking the management to take action. When the hospital didn’t respond, they wrote to the police and the Chief Minister’s office. Finally, the police registered a case against the doctor on Friday.
The doctor, originally from West Bengal, has denied all the charges. He said he returned to work after celebrating Eid with his family on April 8. On April 23, a nurse asked him for sweets and biryani to celebrate Eid, which is a friendly tradition at AIIMS to share sweets on festivals or special occasions. So, he ordered sweets for the staff. Some people didn’t eat them, but many enjoyed it. He also mentioned that a female doctor gave sweets the day before to celebrate her baby’s birth.
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The doctor said that on April 25, he heard rumors about the sweets causing misunderstanding. He told the hospital officials and tried to clear things up, but later he was called by the police. He thought the matter was settled peacefully, but then he found out a formal case was filed.
This whole situation has caused the doctor a lot of stress. He said he might file a defamation case against those spreading false stories about him.
