ROLE OF SOCIAL WORK IN CANCER PREVENTION AND CANCER CARE

 

Cancer is, to a large extent, avoidable. Many types of cancers are preventable. Others can be detected early in their development, treated and cured. Even with late stage cancer, the pain can be reduced, the progression of the cancer slowed, and patients and their families helped to cope.

The profession of social work has great strength in tools and techniques especially in the areas of community mobilization and in providing psychosocial support that the medical profession doesn’t have. Some other example of the strength of social work will include social action and mass mobilization; understanding of community’s dynamics and eliciting community participation; social welfare linkage and management; counselling, group work and community work for educational purpose and psycho-social support, etc. The tools of social action especially mass motivation, mobilization and participation of the community will be very effective at the preventive level of cancer.

In the Curative level, social work can provide supportive roles to the doctors and patients by providing psychosocial and emotional support which is today, widely accepted as a critical component of medical treatment. It can provide motivational, educational and therapeutic counselling to the cancer patients; it can links patients with necessary resources like funding and treatment aids from the governmental sector as well as non-governmental sectors, etc.

At the rehabilitation level, there is even a greater role for social work by taking care of the palliative unit. At the palliative level, taking care of the psycho-emotional needs is critical not just for the cancer patients but also for their families for any eventualities.

The Government of India under its National Cancer Control Programmes (NCCP) followed four principal approaches in controlling cancer in India. This paper will also follow that approach in exploring the possible roles of the profession of Social Work in Cancer Care and Prevention, with one more heading added, i.e. Policy level.  

1. Prevention
2. Early Detection
3. Diagnosis and Treatment
4. Palliative Care
5. Policy Level

1. PREVENTIVE LEVEL

Prevention should be the key element in any disease control programme. Prevention means eliminating or minimizing exposure to the causes of cancer, and includes reducing individual susceptibility to the effect of such causes. This approach offers the greatest public health potential and the most cost effective long-term method of cancer control.

Cancer prevention at the individual and community level, social worker can take a leading role by ensuring community participation in taking preventive actions, awareness generation at all level from school, neighbourhood, to community.

• The most useful prevention strategy is reduction in tobacco consumption (all forms). Currently about 50% of cancers in men and 20% of cancers in women are related to tobacco use. Social workers can take a leading role in spreading the health implication of tobacco, helping people deal with tobacco addiction, and rehabilitation of tobacco farmers and those whose livelihoods depended on tobacco in one form or the other by helping and generating alternative source of livelihood;
• The social workers can ensure in involving all levels of the population in the educational process regarding cancer. The contents of cancer education should focus on, tobacco control, physical activity and avoidance of obesity, healthy dietary practices, reducing occupational and environmental occupational exposures, reducing alcohol use, immunization against hepatitis B virus, safe sexual practices to avoid human papilloma virus infection.
• Campaigning for a healthy lifestyle, which includes eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, avoidance of alcohol and adequate physical activity, is protective for many of the non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, and can be considered as part of the overall health promotion programmes.
• Cancers related to infectious agents such as human papillomavirus and hepatitis B virus can be prevented through vaccination strategies, and social workers can take a leading role in mobilizing the communities.

For the above mentioned prevention measures at the community level, a variety of methods can be employed to educated the community:

• Among School and University student: Conducting drawing and essay competitions, debates, discussions, seminars and street play competitions, etc.
• Among Community organization, Municipal, District and State Health Administration: Organizing Participatory workshops and training sessions.
• In the Mass Media: Participatory programmes on radio and television, descriptive articles in newspapers and magazines,
• Among the General population: Conducting exhibitions and public lectures, conducting street level awareness drive, focus group discussion with community members, health camp, etc.

2. EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER

Early detection of cancer is critical in combating cancer mortality rate. In India, almost 60 – 70 % of cancer patients are detected at advanced stage which reduced the chances of recovery and raise the cancer mortality rate. 

Cancer Screening is the application of a relatively simple and inexpensive test to asymptomatic subjects to classify them as being likely or unlikely to have cancer. A screening test in itself will not prevent cancer; it needs to be followed up through a systematic medical approach. Still, this is a relative simple measure for early detection of cancer that can be undertaken even by those who have no advance training in medicine but are familiar with medical processes like medical and health social workers with minimal training about the screening process.

• Opportunistic screening or case finding can be done by the Medical Social Welfare Unit in selected pockets of community based on the populations’ likelihood of getting cancer (this can be determined by many criteria like life-style, community living in industrial areas, or in a waste disposal or waste treatment areas, community whose livelihood are related to radiation or tobacco industry, etc.). This will help not only in early detection but also in increasing the awareness level of the community.
• Clinical breast examination can be made feasible for women above the age of 40 years, which can be carried out by general practitioners besides community mobilizers like Social Workers. Also there are some simple breast self-examination techniques for women which social workers can teach to groups of women in the communities.
• Cancers in accessible parts of the body like the oral cavity may be detected at an early stage or even in a precancerous stage through simple inspection and examination; medically familiar personnel like medical social workers can be trained for this purpose.
• Self-examination of the oral cavity (MSE) and breast (BSE) can be useful methods and each can be propagated widely as a strategy through simple IEC (Informational, Educational Communication) materials, community meeting, focus group discussion, etc. for the early detection of cancer.

3. DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT LEVEL

In the Curative level, social work can provide supportive roles to the doctors by providing psychosocial and emotional support to the patients and their families which is considered as a critical component of medical treatment. It can provide motivational, educational and therapeutic counselling to the cancer patients; it can links patients with necessary resources like funding and treatment aids from the governmental sector as well as non-governmental sectors, etc.

At the diagnosis and treatment level, the roles and functions that a social worker can play in cancer care are:

• Motivation counselling to patients to seek medical help and enabling resources for the treatment and providing proper referral services
• Educational counselling to the cancer patients about their medical status, preparing them for future course of treatment and treatment process and the possible outcomes of the treatments.
• Therapeutic counselling to deal with the psychological stress and trauma that can have severe implication on their already weak physical body;
• If the patients and/or the family are in crisis because of the treatment, crisis intervention has to be undertaken
• Emotional support to the family of the cancer patients, and eliciting the involvement of the family in the treatment process
• Providing the cancer patients with various social welfare resources that will enable and enhance their access to better health care and treatment
• Linkage of cancer patients with governmental and non-governmental welfare resources
• Organizing therapeutic and/or peer support group for cancer patients
• Since cancer patients are under extensive emotional and psychological anxiety and stress, organizing recreational and entertainment for them is important
• A diagnosis of cancer and subsequent treatment can have a significant impact on self-concept, the way in which people perceive or react to themselves. Living with cancer may affect personal self-concept (facts about the self or a person’s self-opinion); social self-concept (perceptions of how one is regarded by others); and self-ideals (perceptions of oneself with respect to how one would like to be). Social worker can provide support and counselling for such patients.

4. PALLIATIVE CARE

Palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment, and treatment of pain and other problems – physical, psychosocial and spiritual. Palliative care is particularly important in less developed countries where a high proportion of cancer patients are diagnosed in advanced stages when treatment is no longer effective. These patients can be relieved from suffering with relatively low-cost interventions.

The various issues that crop up in palliative care especially in the terminal stages are:

• Physical issues towards the end of life incudes loss of function and curtailment of activity and physical effects to perform activities of daily living, including self-care activities, mobility, physical activities and role activities.
• Psychological issues towards the end of life include fear, distress, anxiety, anger, frustration, disappointment, depression, etc.
• Social issues towards the end of life include disruption social relationships as a result of impaired ability to pursue normal activities and maintenance of social contacts.
• Existential and spiritual issues towards the end of life include confrontation with mortality, the meaning of life, isolation and worth as a person. As patients reached terminal stages, spiritual issues gain importance as determinants of quality of life. Spiritual considerations may also assist the individual to endure present discomforts and, if need be, to face death with courage and dignity.
• Impact of towards-the-end-of-life issues on the family includes general depression, concern about old parents or young children, unclear role and power structures in the family, unclear source of income and means of livelihoods, etc.

The role of the social worker is to help the family and patient deal with the personal and social problems of illness and disability, as well as to provide support during the progression of the disease and the bereavement process if the patient is at the end of life.

• The social worker’s assessment helps define the patient’s and family’s needs from a psychosocial perspective, and helps anticipate problems within the family that may result from dysfunction and financial difficulties, particularly as the family begin planning for the future.
• Social work offer such interventions as referral to needed community services, emotional support (including individual counselling of patients and family members) and bereavement counselling.
• At this stage, social worker can help in finding help and assistance for the patients if there is no one to take care of them, find a nursing home or palliative care unit that can take-care of their personal needs, and helping the family of the patients on how to deal with this physical issues.
• The social worker can help the patients in coping and dealing with the issues of their medical condition, including the possibility of death, ensuring that their personal concern and worries are taken care of as much as possible, and if the need arises, finding spiritual guide and person to interact with the patients.
• The social worker can help the patients in staying in contact with family and friends and other loved ones, explain to the family how he is unable to maintain or reciprocate the relationships, etc.
• Conducting support group for the family, along with therapeutic counselling to cope with the situation.

5. POLICY LEVEL OF CANCER CARE

There are many ways that a social worker can get involved at the Macro level of cancer prevention and cancer care:

• Many types of cancers can be prevented to a large extent through a comprehensive tobacco control programme including education, legislation, and tobacco cessation services.
• Ensuring leadership that create clarity and unity of purpose, and to encourage team building, broad participation, ownership of the process, continuous learning and mutual recognition of efforts made in cancer care.
• Ensuring involvement of stakeholders of all cancer related sectors, and at all levels of the decision-making process, to enable active participation and commitment of key players for the benefit of cancer control programme.
• Creation of partnerships to enhance effectiveness through mutually beneficial relationships, and build upon trust and complementary capacities of partners from different disciplines and sectors.
• Responding to the needs of people at risk of developing cancer or already presenting with the disease, in order to meet their physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs across the full continuum of care.
• Ensuring decision-making based on evidence, social values and efficient and cost effective use of resources that benefit the target population in a sustainable and equitable way.
• Ensuring the application of a systemic approach by implementing a comprehensive programme for cancer with inter-related key components sharing the same goals and integrated with other related programmes and to the health system.
• Seeking continuous improvement, innovation and creativity to maximize performance and to address social and cultural diversity, as well as the needs and challenges presented by a changing environment.

Looking at the prevalent trends in the spread and magnitude of cancer and its non-discriminate penetration of every sections of the society, cancer is already a health concern that needs urgent attention from all sections including policy-makers across the world. According to the World Health Organization, death from cancer and other life-style diseases in the developing world including India is expected to increase 104% worldwide by the year 2020. In India, the total cancer cases alone are likely to go up from 979,786 cases in the year 2010 to 1,148,757 cases in the year 2020.

The profession of Social work, especially medical and health social work must take this opportunity in order to survive and thrive in this fluctuating and complex environment in which it is reduced to a supporting role. Social workers must either accept this challenge to change and re-evaluate the services provided and expand their horizon of works or lose the opportunity to be players in the field of cancer prevention and cancer care.

[This is an extract from my Research Paper titled: Exploring the Role of Social Work in Cancer Care and Cancer Prevention submitted to the Dept. of Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia (New Delhi) and conducted in BRAIRCH of All India Institute of Medical Science (New Delhi) between September 2011 – March 2012 ]

Refugees in their own country....

The images of my fellow north-east people in Bangalore railway station in my screen made me shudder, and the voice of the newscaster keep repeating that all those people clamouring for a tiny little space inside the already packed Assam bound train are running away from an ‘unknown enemy’ when she didn’t use the word ‘rumours’.

The image brought me to tears, but the words used by the newscaster made me angry.  The more appropriate words would have been unwanted, failed, discriminated, abused, exploited, prejudiced, despised, refugees in their own country!

Can 30000 people who had already left the southern cities of India for their home in the north-east be such fools to run away as soon as they heard some random stupid rumours?  Are they saying that these people are not able to assess their own situation and their own security taking in to account the attitude of the police and the people in authority?

Have their lives in mainland India has ever been secure, equal and devoid of discrimination that they would need a rumour to leave it?  The attitude and treatment of the police and the people in authorities towards the north-east has never been free of prejudice.  We have been always discriminated and every move we made, every piece of cloth we wear, every parts of our body are judged, commented, whistled, hooted, and mocked every single day.

Or maybe there is more than just a rumour, if not a direct threat?  How about a group of people, who had thrown up their hands and given up, because of the constant discrimination they faced, and are waiting for a trigger to go home, even before the rumour spread?

The congress government at the central has kept ‘assuring’ that they would trace the source of the rumours and take stern action.  Why not start with the illegal Bangladeshis immigrants who have occupied the indigenous tribal land in Assam?  What did/does the central government said about them? Not a single word!

The Lesser Indian?

What do you say, when certain section of the society, run in fear and panic despite repeated assurance from all sections of the authority not to panic?  It simply means that there absolutely is no trust in the people who give you that assurance!

Now ask why they don’t trust the people who assure them not to panic, the answer is obvious! They have learned their lesson not to trust the politicians and police from their past experience. 

The Police in Bangalore and Pune have claimed that not a single complain was registered so far regarding violence or assault of north-east people in their respective cities dismissing that the fear and panic of the north-eastern people are a result of some rumour! 

Was that so surprising when every north-east male showed up in the police station, he was seen as a substance abusing trouble maker and whenever a north-eastern female showed up in the police station, she was seen only as an immoral, characterless slut? So why would any sane person showed up in the police station to complain only to be accused of being moral-less?

When a north-eastern student was beaten to death; he was dismissed as a drug addict by the police, when a north-eastern student was raped; her character was questioned by the police!  If such grave cases that involve the north-eastern people were considered not worth registering as a valid police case, now tell me how can we trust the police?

Perhaps the panic in Pune and Bangalore is caused by rumour, which certainly is not, but why would a person in his right mind who have experienced systematic discrimination in their everyday life in mainland India take a chance of trusting the perpetrator of such discrimination???

Anyhow how can we complain about discrimination that comes in various forms?  There are the spoken and unspoken discrimination that each and every north-eastern people face in their everyday life in the mainland. Now tell me how would we register a case about a man who abruptly started singing some vulgar song with a sneer in their face as we passed them? How would we register a case against someone who suddenly looked away and started crying ‘chowmein’ as soon as we passed them?

By the way, what has the authorities (Central & State) do to ease the situation beside giving a hollow assurance? The central government gave assurance of safety to the north-east student, but why is it silent about the illegal migrants who caused the whole thing in the first place? Isn't silence about the illegal migrants being a sign of support and preference when all they gave to the north-east people is verbal assurance?

To my north-eastern friends, I want to say don’t panic or fear, but don’t take your chances either! It’s about time we consider our position in India –are we the lesser Indian as we often feel?  The answer to that question will not make you any safer, but it will at least tell you what to do next!

Some News

1. Indian Express: Thousands More Flee Bangalore/Pune Despite Govt Plea for Calm

2. Hindustan Times: NE Exodus Continues, Cops Probing Source of Rumours

3. Times of India: Northeast Migrants Flee Pune-Bangalore-Chennai

Introduction: What is Women's Empowerment

I wrote this as an assignment, and consulted various books. I posted this with the hope that it will help students and other who are looking for quick answer.  So the basic content is broken down into 3 different posts, as a series, and the references are kept with the last post. keep on scrolling :)

1. Introduction: What is women's empowerment?
2. Approaches to/for Women's Empowerment
- South Asian Approaches (Batliwala)
- Women Empowerment in Development (WED) or Developmental Approach
- Women in Development (WID)
- Women and Development (WAD)
- Gender and Development (GAD)
- The Welfare Approach
- The Equity Approach
- The Efficency Approach
- Anti-Proverty Approach
- The empowered Approach
3. Strategies for Women's Empowerment
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Introduction: What is Women's Empowerment?

The concept of women’s empowerment as understood in the South Asian context defined it as a bottom-up process, and the results/outcomes of that process, of transforming the relations of power between individuals and social groups.  It acknowledge the unequal distribution of power in the society and the challenging of that power relations so that women, as an individual and group, can have equal control over their access to  resources and to participate equally in decision making.

For an individual or group to be empowered, they must have the power to control or equal access to these five broad categories of resources viz. physical, human, intellectual, and financial resources, and the self (Pamei, 2001).  Similarly, they must have the power to control ideology, which means ability to determine beliefs, values, attitudes, and virtually, control over ways of thinking and perceiving situations. This process of gaining control over the self, over ideology and the resources, which determine power, may be termed as ‘empowerment’. (Hajira and Varghese, 2004).

According to Batliwala (1994), empowerment is both a process and a goal. She states that: …the goals of women’s empowerment are to challenge patriarchal ideology (male domination and women’s subordination); transform the structures and institutions that reinforce and perpetuate gender discrimination and social inequality (the family, caste, class, religion, educational processes and institutions, the media, health practices and systems, laws and civil codes, political processes, development models, and government institutions); and enable women to gain access to, and control of, both material and informational resources.

The term ‘women’s empowerment’ is often equated with other terminology like ‘gender equality’, ‘female autonomy’, or ‘women’s emancipation’.  However, they are not the same and can be distinguished by two elements which are present in women’s empowerment. The first is that of process (Kabeer, 2001; Oxaal and Baden, 1997; Rowlands, 1995). None of the other concepts explicitly encompasses a progression from one state (gender inequality) to another (gender equality). The second element is agency—in other words, women themselves must be significant actors in the process of change that is being described or measured. Thus, hypothetically there could be an improvement in gender equality by various measures, but unless the intervening processes involved women as agents of that change rather than merely as its recipients we would not consider it empowerment. (Malhotra, 2003)

The concept of empowerment has several different and inter-related aspects.  It is not only about opening up access to decision making or control over resources or power, but also must include processes that lead people to perceive themselves as able and entitled to occupy that decision-making space (Rowlands, 1995).  Empowerment is sometimes described as being about the ability to make choices, but it must also involve being able to shape what choices are on offer. 

Empowerment is a process of transition from a state of powerlessness to a state of relative control over one’s life, destiny, and environment. This transition can manifest itself in an improvement in the perceived ability to control, as well as in an improvement in the actual ability to control.

I'm Indian* but...

*condition apply

So the Honourable Chief Minister of Mizoram, Mr. Lal Thanhawla wanted all Mizos to accept their Indian nationality, or lose their ration card...humph thank God I got no ration card!!! (http://www.sinlung.com/2011/08/mizos-should-accept-they-are-indians.html)

But, you know, dear Chief Minister, that sucks because even after living almost a decade in the National capital of India, I'm still not accepted as an Indian.  And as a matter of fact, I really don't care it either.  I'm tired of being an unaccepted and unacknowledged Indian national. By the way I've long given up complaining, whining and explaining the geography of India that almost 90% of Indian are guaranteed not to know, and in trying to cope with the plain and unabashed racism and discrimination I have faced because of that ignorance. My blog is a tastemant to that fact.

Anyway, what option do we really have? We want it or not, we are Indian, and we are the new untouchable Indian who have faced all sorts of discrimination in our so called country, which made us, people like me, a disgruntled lot.  May be you didn't know how it feels to be a part of a group that doesn't want you. Perhaps you may blame us for us not willing to be called Indian. Perhaps it's time that we arrange some sort of agreement as to what we should be called. May be, a different kind of Indian, perhaps yellow Indian? But no matter what,  no one, none who should, will acknowledge our claim. 

Anyway, tell me, dear Chief Minister, how can a peacock be a crow when its feather are glittering like gems or is it the other way round - that the crow is as black as a coal.  What difference does it make, a crow will never be a peacock, nor a peacock become a crow.  It simply doesn't add up.

Perhaps you can teach the Indian govt. what and how, you and your family did to make your young wife feel comfortable and at-home just after you got married, and she entered your family home for the first time.  It's too many decades late now to be treated as a new bride, but may be, just may be, it still can make some difference, if India, for once, treated us as it's own. 

After so many years, if some sections of the Mizos, and other tribal communities in the north-east doesn't feel at home in India, and are not comfortable with the 'Indian' tag, it's hardly their fault.  After all, their claim of being a free and sovereign people before being seceded into India is not a hoax or myth, and you know as well as me, that....is for a fact!!! 

So, dear Chief Minister, what say you????

Hemraj: Redeemed by Death?

The recent twin brutal murder in Noida once again, not only brings out the negligence of Indian Police Forces, but also its stark prejudice. The Noida Police, apart from failing in every aspect, were quick to point their finger at their missing Nepali Servant Hemraj who all the while had been decomposing in the roof-top.

It is very disturbing to think of the possible situation for the Nepali Help if circumstances had spared him with his life. With the police attitude, it is apparent that no matter what, he would spend his life in Jail if he had been alive.

It is sad to see the media failing to highlight this sort of prejudiced mind-set of the police. By highlighting this issue, the media could have done much for the minority communities living in the main land and had been victim of discrimination based on prejudice.

Reverse Racism or Xenophobia?

In one of my post last year, I wrote about my dismay at the faces I saw on my way back to Manipur. I had pointedly asked “What good do this Marwaris and Beharis bring to our land?” It was just a rhetoric question but now with the recent killing spree of ‘Non-Manipuris’ in Manipur, I feel guilty enough to make a clarification.

Firstly, I want to clarify that the Marwaris and Beharis in Manipur are mostly traders and when they came to the North-east their intention was/is profits (money) and not to kill our culture or tradition nor to bring their own. They are innocent on that regards –I mean, the tribals in the north-east had done enough to kill their culture and tradition by embracing non-indigenous religion and culture a century ago.

Secondly, the whole of the north-east is a rather backward area, and since those people come there for profits and don’t utilize their profits there, they are guilty of economically exploiting the natives.

Thirdly, every Indian had a constitutionally guaranteed freedom of movement and to reside anywhere in the country, but the north-east is different. Except for Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam (is it the large presence of non-tribals that make them lost their status as a restricted tribals area?), foreigners/NRIs and people from the mainland needed a permit, RAP/PAP (Restricted/Protected Area Permit) and ILP (Inner-Line Permit) respectively, to visit the North-eastern states. The very existence of such restriction, though it hardly serves its purpose, evidently point that those people are in the wrong place.

Fourthly, with the tribals’ experience in Tripura, it is understandable if the uncontrolled mass influx of non-natives makes them uncomfortable. In Tripura, the tribals had become a minority especially after the Bangladesh War when Bengalis Refugees came in hordes. The Bengalis demographic invasion made the Tribal state of Tripura a Bengalis state –dominating the culture and politics of the state.

Fifthly, our states already have the not so desirable images as failed states and we don’t need such recklessness to make our pathetic image any bloodier; I only hope their deaths bring some mainland media attention to the conveniently ignored states and, hopefully, some reformative actions from the government as well.

And finally I want to ask, are we guilty of reverse racism, or is it just another case of xenophobia? I don’t want to believe that we are guilty of reverse racism even though each of us living in the mainland had enough tales of discriminations and denigrations to tell for a thousand nights. But it surely is a case of xenophobia, which is present in every culture of the world thought not always in such a violent form.

So my final question is, does the presence of non-natives pose a threat for us the natives, –especially in the protected states of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. I don’t think so –for they make up just a miniscule percent of our population. And if you asked me, I’d always prefer a Marwaris/Beharis shopkeepers rather than some native girl sitting pretty inside the shop, telling you to take it or leave.

INDIAN AND RACISM

A Well-known Indian cricketer was accused of racially abusing an Australian cricketer during last Friday cricket match in Sydney. The Cricketer, of course, denied having said anything remotely racist to anyone, and the Indian team management and players gave him full support. The Indian media went even further to feign shock and disappointment at the Aussies’ accusation and accused them of playing spoilsport.

Well, no one, including me, know what exactly happened down there but one thing I do know is that one unwitting remark can sounds racist for some other. But in a caste/class divided India, those remarks are not always unwitting, for they had been so used to abusing the lower caste/class peoples for ages. In fact, it wouldn’t be too far from the truth to say that mainland Indian are one of the most racist people in the world.

Racism, in one form or the other, exists all over the world. Even in the developed world where people are more sensitive and awareness are higher, racism and discrimination still existed, but are hidden, unspoken and unexpressed. But in India, they loudly expressed it so and they think it is the right things to do or say. That is not so surprising considering it is also the country where caste and class segregation are fully accepted as a social order.

In India, more than the majority doesn’t even know what racism or discrimination means. The lower caste people are so used to the abuses they only cursed their lot instead of fighting for justice, while the upper castes are used to abusing the lower castes that who legitimatize by accepting the abuses. So you can forget about expecting anyone from knowing what little and minor things, words, expression and gestures that constitute racism and discrimination.

Indeed awareness is low in India, but that is no excuse –not especially for an international sportsperson who frequently traveled around the world. Going back to the cricket match, what is most shocking is the Indian team Management’s stand that the Aussies did not have clinching evidence. They should’ve have known better because racism may not necessarily be in the form of verbal, but also non-verbal, or just a mere gesture.

The Indian should know that racism is no game and racially abusing someone is no sport. It should be noted that the abused Aussies player has nothing to gain by dragging the Indian to the sport’s international panel. This simply means the Aussies cricketer is really hurt by the remark. In fact, the Aussies Cricketer’s decision to seek justice rather than going back to his shell like most of us is a courage that should be appreciated. If the abused Cricketer had been from the North-east of India, he would just keep quiet and silently cried his heart out.

But what disappoints me the most is the Panel’s decision to ban the accused from just 3 Test Match after finding him guilty. If he is really guilty, that punishment is just not enough; he should be banned for life, and the Indian team management should disown him. A racist like him doesn’t deserve to represent a diverse country like India.

Update:

On April 19, the Indian Spinner, Harbhajan Singh, slapped a national team mates who was playing against him in the Indian Premier League. After finding him guilty of the charge, the IPL imposed a ban of 11 matches which mean he will miss the whole season. While the BCCI, the Indian Cricket Board, also imposed, after an enquiry, a ban of 5 International One Day matches which is the maximum punishment under the regulation he was charged.

Mr. Singh is one of India’s most successful spin bowlers, but his disciplinary record has been poor. He was even ejected from the BCCI's National Cricket Academy early in his career. Hope he learnt his lesson.

This incident only justifies the charges that the ICC and BCCI defended the guilty Harbhajan Singh during the Australian Tour even though he racially abused a coloured Australian player just because of financial matter as the stake was high with around $50 million.

Tags: mizo, zomi, zogam

AIIMS: Teaching Discrimination

Chances are if you are a Schedule Caste/Tribe student studying or practicing in India’s premier medical institute, AIIMS in New Delhi, none of your fellow student or doctor will work with you and you will have to live in a ghetto, you will not be able to play a certain sport and each and every day, you will be reminded again and again that you belongs to an inferior class in the society.

The Thorat Panel set up by the Union Health & Family Welfare Ministry at the PM behest after a series of articles from the print media exposed the social discrimination practiced in the Institute was led by Mr. SK Thorat, UGC Chairperson with two other members. The report has thrown up many shocking result, which, not surprisingly, the Administration of AIIMS rejected ‘in totality’.
The Panel which interviewed 50% of the Students belonging to the reserved category accused the Director (of AIIMS) of instigating and creating a divide between the students and ghettoizing reserved category students.

The report says the AIIMS administration failed to ensure safeguards for weaker sections of society guaranteed under the Constitution like undergraduate programme and special coaching for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students. They also accused the faculty of ‘misusing’ their power during internal assessment.

As many as 69% of the reserved category students alleged that they did not receive adequate support from teachers, 72% said they faced discrimination, and 76% said their evaluation was not proper while 82% said they often got less than expected marks.

In practical examinations and viva voce, the treatment meted out to them was 'not fair'. And worse, 76% said higher caste faculty members enquired about the castes of their students while 84% said they were asked, directly or indirectly, about their caste backgrounds. An equal percentage of students alleged that their grading was adversely affected due to their background.

The reserved category students also alleged 'social isolation' at various levels, including even from faculty members, with 84% of the students saying they faced segregation in the hostel that forced them to shift to hostels No. 4 and 5 where there was a concentration of SC/ST students.

So far, the AIIMS administration has rejected the report as a bundle of lies and set up their own panel, their report is awaited. But considering that the panel was set up by the administration which is also the alleged perpetrator, one doesn’t expect much except for ‘another bundles of lies’.

It is no secret the problem between the Health Minister and the Director of AIIMS especially after the recent reservation controversy, but the question is –is these brutalities triggered by the recent reservation controversy or is it a deep-rooted tradition in the institute that was there for a long time but exposed only when this controversy cropped up?

Whatever the answer is, discrimination in any form, be it harsh or subtle, be it based on caste, creed or race, it should be condemned. Every one must note that the Quota system did not guarantee entrance to any institute; all the SC/ST students in AIIMS get there based on their merits. Their selection is not based on caste or religion, but on their performances in the extremely competitive Entrance Exam –so there really is no void of merit.

There is no denying that the quota system as practiced in India is not the best solution for what it is applied for. Still you cannot compare the effect it has on the communities. Just compare this –the general community having one more doctor and the tribal community having its first doctor.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/06/stories/2007050609700100.htm

Discrimination and India

Recently, mainland Indian cry foul of the alleged ‘racial abuses’ against an Indian actor participating in a British TV show. The alleged abuses garnered the actor a wave of sympathy across the country and she emerged the final winner. I cannot say she played the racial-card well but I hope she knew what she is going to face when she agreed to compete in the show.

I knew the kind of treatment I will be given before I decided to move to Delhi. I was not wrong. Each and everyday I faced some sort of discrimination –it can be mild, coated or blown-out abuses.

It is scary being a minority in India but it is intolerable being a racial minorities.

I really do wish those people who took out to the street for the actor will also look closer at home and stop being a perpetrator and stand-up for the minorities which they failed to notice all these years.

I remember how much the British Indian hated being called ‘Paki’ (Pakistan). In the same way I hated being called a ‘thapa’, ‘bahadur’ or a ‘nepali’. It is not that I have anything against the thapa, bahadur and nepali nor am I ashamed of my nature endowed facial feature, I hated this generalization of race. Above all, the above term refers to race and it is racist.

If someone wanted to abuse me, let him abuse me individually –not in a generalized term. At least that will let me realize some of my weaknesses. I am proud of my race, but I am very proud of my individuality.

I remember reading a column about an Indian dignitary travelling to China who failed to recognize the Indian envoy there because he is from a north-eastern state.

I remember working with a retired bureaucrat in a Japanese funded project in Himachal Pradesh who treated me well -mistaking me for one of the Japanese who worked with us. Once I told him the truth, he treated me like a servant –to the extend of waking me up at the middle of the night to buy him a cigarette. I slapped him twice and never give him the apologies he demanded.

I remember a teacher in my college who never took class but give us attendance anyway. She gave me the lowest attendance. I called her ‘Fuhrer’ and she smiled. I wished I’ve punched her face.

I remember seeing my sister squirming when labourer to men-in-car gawked at her on our way to church. I know she faced this everyday on her way to work. I remember being denied entry into a night-club because we are north-east Indian. I remember arguing with the man in the ticket counter of Red Fort who tried to charge me as a foreigner.

My friend suggested to me to pretend as a foreigner. They say in some places it always works. But pretending to be a foreigner didn’t help much when you squeeze in to a crowed bus. Neither will it help when looking for a job or your job is in the lower rank of the ladder.

Anyway, I have enough of pretending to do and I don’t like a bit. I hate trying to flow with the main stream which refuses to see me as a human being. I hate trying to conform to this strange society which doesn’t want to recognize my individuality.

I hate being racially generalized, it is racial discrimination. It undermine my individuality, it undermine my identity. I am proud of my race, I am proud of my identity, and I am even prouder of my individuality.

Tags: mizo, zomi, zogam