The recent incident at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital highlights a deeper issue: our society is in moral decline, with all sectors, including media, healthcare, and governance, engaged in a blame game.
In a time of heightened outrage and public distrust, incidents like the recent altercation at Srinagar’s SMHS Hospital reveal more than the immediate conflict between a doctor and a patient’s attendant. They lay bare the broader and far more troubling reality: our society is in a state of moral disrepair, and every sector — be it media, healthcare, governance, or public behavior — is caught in the blame game. The lines are blurred. It is no longer “us versus them.” It is, tragically, everyone versus everyone. This is not just about a doctor being assaulted, or journalists being maligned, or politicians being distrusted. This is about a collective failure in responsibility — and the time has come to stop pointing fingers outward and start reflecting inward. Why are hospitals turning into flashpoints of rage? Why is the media landscape being overrun by sensationalists and charlatans? Why do we romanticize victimhood but ridicule accountability? Because somewhere along the way, we stopped being responsible — as citizens, as professionals, as a society. Let’s take the example of journalism. We mourn the fall of credible media but continue to like, share, and promote unverified, often malicious content. Many so-called “influencers” thrive by feeding public paranoia, distorting facts, and weaponizing grief — all in the name of free speech. But their power doesn’t arise in isolation. It is we who empower them, consume their content, and give them legitimacy. Our responsibility does not end at clicking a share button; it begins there. Similarly, doctors, especially in overburdened public hospitals, work under extreme stress. They are not infallible. But instead of building systems of accountability and support, we often respond with anger and violence. When things go wrong, we demand heads to roll — not systems to improve. Therein lies the rot. Our institutions — medical, journalistic, administrative — are merely reflections of who we are.
“Let us not burn the bridges between doctors and patients, media and people, public and institutions. Let us instead rebuild them, brick by brick, with honesty, empathy, and accountability. The healing of Kashmir will not come through hashtags or headlines. It will come when each of us asks a simple question: What am I doing to make this better? That is where responsibility begins. And that is where hope lies”.
A society that is quick to outrage but slow to introspect will never see real progress. If we want professionalism, we must respect professionals. If we want integrity, we must reward it, not mock it. If we want truth, we must stop circulating lies. This editorial is not a sermon; it is a call for reflection. We cannot keep blaming the “system” as if we stand outside of it. We are the system. Its strength or weakness stems directly from our choices, our silences, our behaviours. It is easy to rage. It is far harder to take responsibility — but that is exactly what we must do. Let us not burn the bridges between doctors and patients, media and people, public and institutions. Let us instead rebuild them, brick by brick, with honesty, empathy, and accountability. The healing of Kashmir will not come through hashtags or headlines. It will come when each of us asks a simple question: What am I doing to make this better? That is where responsibility begins. And that is where hope lies.
