By HH Mohrmen
The recent report about Abdul Rahim’s plan to seek the court’s permission to end his and his sons’ lives has brought the issue of euthanasia from the backburner to the fore once again. But is Abdul Rahim stirring the hornet’s nest again or is it a case of a distressed man who seeks the attention of the people and government to come to his rescue. The same paper which carried Rahim’s story also splashed a photograph of the under – 15 Champion team from Meghalaya and headlines that screamed ‘Red letter day for Meghalaya Football.’ Looking back at the edition, one can say that The Shillong Times of May 29, has delighted the football fans of Shillong even while creating an angst in those who could not make it to the team.
Reading the report that Rahim shared with the press, one can sense the desperation of a father who helplessly watches his children suffer. It was an emotional outburst of a father who is out on a limb having spent all his earnings to treat his children. None can fully comprehend the feeling of helplessness of a man who can do nothing but watch his beloved suffer. There are many such who while watching their dear ones suffer, pray that God would take them instead.
One can’t help but wonder how many readers were touched by the story or if Abdul Rahim’s story pricked our conscience? Or did the story meet the same fate as a daily newspaper does of being consigned to bin of history. With so much information bombarding us from every direction left right and centre, one will not be surprised that Abdul’s story will gradually fade into the oblivion. The question therefore is, what kind of society are we if we choose to ignore a father’s fervent request for help to save his children. Of course we can conclude that there is too much suffering in the world and we are no supermen/women to help all those in need. Clearly Rahim’s hope is for someone to step out and support the family’s medical needs. But if there is no response then his last option is to seek Court’s permission to end the agony by taking away his life and that of his sons. This could well spark yet another debate on Euthanasia in the country.
According to Wikipedia, Euthanasia is derived from the Greek: ‘eu’ meaning well or good and ‘thanatos’ meaning death. Euthanasia, mercy killing or assisted suicide therefore refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering.
Rita L. Marker and Kathy Hamilton on the Patients Rights’ Council website have noted that the only place in the world where Euthanasia is legal is the state of Oregon, Washington and Montana in the United State of America. In Europe, in euthanasia is permitted in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Oregon and Washington passed laws and Montana’s Supreme Court determined that assisted suicide is a medical treatment. The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg permit both euthanasia and assisted suicide. Although euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Switzerland, assisted suicide is penalized only if it is carried out for selfish motives. Because euthanasia is still illegal in our country therefore it will be for the good of Rahim’s family to spend money on the patients’ medicines than on litigation seeking permission to end his and his sons’ lives. The Thallassemic patients may be forgiven for seeking permission for euthanasia because they are terminally ill patients but how can Rahim, an otherwise healthy man who is otherwise healthy man want to kill himself?
Rahim’s press meet was a desperate attempt to save his sons. He hopes that some benevolent soul would rescue his family with the mercy killing plea being the last option. Now that the government of Assam has extended it’s helping hand to the family, Rahim must heave a sigh of relief but the debate on euthanasia in India will continue. Rahim’s ordeal may end, but as long as there are terminally ill people or patients who live in a vegetative state, the debate on euthanasia, mercy killing or assisted suicide will go on.
Now that Rahim’s story has a happy ending, we shift gears to much lighter story and that is sport and with football getting popular in the state, Shillong is slowly becoming the Manchester of the East. We have heard of Shillong being compared to Scotland even though Scotland is not a city but was an erstwhile Celtic Kingdom, and now part of the United Kingdom and the two cannot be twined. But the latest development in the sporting sphere tempted one to compare Shillong with Manchester. We are only half way through 2013, yet a lot has happened especially with regard to football. History is created both in the state and the country. Like the city of Manchester we now have two teams in the prestigious I- league. Besides the Shillong Lajong, we now have Rangdajied Football Club another team from the city which is qualified to take part in the national league. Meghalaya is also creating another football history by winning the Coca-Cola Cup U – 15 football finals. Apart from winning the title for the first time which was a moral boaster for the Meghalaya under 15 lads, they could also meet the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the captain of the Indian football team Sunil Chhetri. But what has the State done for the champions except to issue a front page advertisement congratulating the team which only benefits the owners and the publishers of newspapers?
We are yet to hear of any plans to felicitate the boys. But the saddest part is that the newspapers which reported the achievements of the Meghalaya team did not even have enough space to print the list of names in the winning team. The coach and the team manager were named and their comments were carried in the papers, but not the list of the young players. Surely the victors have names and one hopes that the media particularly the print media will not repeat the same mistake. There are discerning readers and football enthusiasts out there who would like to know the names of the young footballers who did us proud.
Two issues come to the fore here. One is the non-responsive health care system in Meghalaya. Several days after Rahim’s mercy plea there is not a word from the Meghalaya Government or some do-gooder NGO to reach out to this desperately needy family. It took the neighbouring State of Assam to reach out to a crying need in Meghalaya. What does this say about our society and government? Secondly, on the sporting arena it can be said that all that has been achieved so far whether in Football or other sporting activities is due to private sponsorship. Government has had very little to do with sports promotion. And we are Talking here about the Year of the Youth which has not yet had a proper closing ceremony. In any case the youth need sustained support and not just one annual event where nothing much happened anyway. Our youth have consistently won laurels for the State be it in music, football, mountaineering or educational attainments. Some of our elders like Brian D Kharpran have out Meghalaya on the caving map of the world. Surely they need due recognition and affirmation. We want a more responsive, personalized government that sees and does what needs to be done on all fronts!