Payal Tadvi: A metaphor for things gone wrong

'Never mind!' said the King, with an air of great relief. 'Call the next witness.' And he added in an undertone to the Queen, 'Really, my dear, you must cross-examine the next witness. It quite makes my forehead ache!' 

Alice watched the White Rabbit as he fumbled over the list, feeling very curious to see what the next witness would be like, '—for they haven't got much evidence yet,' she said to herself. Imagine her surprise, when the White Rabbit read out, at the top of his shrill little voice, the name 'Alice!'

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Introduction

Payal Tadvi’s death was sensational news. Almost immediately, activists and political parties took over the cause. And things started going seriously wrong. Based on which newspaper you read or newschannel you watch, Payal Tadvi is either a victim/martyr or an icon. It is just an indication that the society have enabled, emboldened and conspired with newsmedia to prize the sensational above the substantive. To never look beyond the headlines and so to miss the context of important stories. To hunt for newer “breaking news” without processing the information that was fed a few moments ago. In her death, Payal Tadvi has become a metaphor for things that have gone wrong. 

Casteism and class divide via reservation

Her death and subsequent allegations of ragging and harassment against her seniors were sensational enough. But the charge of the accused Dr. Seema Ahuja, Dr. Bhakti Mehare and Dr. Ankita Khandelwal insulting Payal on caste grounds seems to be added almost as an afterthought. There are reports that Payal herself insisted that her mother should not bring up her caste. Not many people knew about her belonging to a Scheduled Tribe. In the transcripts of her whatsapp chats, there is reportedly no allegation that she was harassed on account of her caste or tribe. Some reports suggest that her seniors did not even know her caste. Yet the seniors were turned into casteist villians who harassed Payal merely because of her caste and class. This is caste and class discrimination at its worst - applied in reverse.

Reservation asks people to do the impossible

Caste or class is not the real issue here. That Payal got her MBBS and postgraduate seats on basis of reservation is the issue. She may not have been equipped, temperamentally or academically to complete her assignments. To withstand the very heavy workload expected of a postgraduate student is difficult. When juggling a strained marital relationship, it becomes tricky. The media have totally ignored this angle. This is a sign of malaise plaguing the media. No issue even remotely controversial is ever touched, leave aside analyzed properly.

The day Payal died

Payal’s chat transcripts show routine frustrations of medical studentship. She committed suicide reportedly because she could not bear it any longer. There is another way of looking at it. That Payal was ready and willing to pay Rs. 20 Lacs in order to be surrender the seat was reported. She was so fed up with the seniors harassment is what we are led to believe. Why didn’t she talk to her husband? If her mother got a desperate call on the day Payal committed sucide, why wasn’t the husband informed?  

Bestowing victimhood on the suicide

It is a socially accepted idea that the person committing suicide is not to be blamed. Payal Tadvi had the attributes where blame would conveniently be laid on others. A Muslim woman, a tribal and an alleged victim of ragging and harassment by seniors. She was the ultimate representative of minority and potential victimhood. As in every case the habits of the deceased , reasons for the ultimate step, speculation about the last moments before the suicide abound.  There is speculation that Payal loved the good life and that she just did not do the work assigned to her. The whatsapp chats also reveal the reminders that the seniors had to give. Also that Payal switched off her phone.  The media is bent upon twisting the tale. Instead of the ever smiling visage of Payal, the image accompanying all stories is that of her grieving mother.

Casting the blame on others

Making the suicide innocent needs somebody else to take the blame. Thus, the scapegoating of the unfortunate trio of seniors. There just is no immediate and proximate act attributed to them which could have compelled the suicide or abetted it. The charges against them are ragging, insulting on caste or religious grounds and thereby abetting the suicide. Abetment of suicide is a term of wide import. In this context it means that the behaviour of the seniors was such that Payal preferred suicide over life with the harassment. The only two instances about such behaviour are revealed in a chat transcript which alleges that Payal was not allowed to perform “delivery n episiotomy.” Another allegation is about one senior [unnamed in the chat] shouting at her in the ward in front of patients. “Loudly so that everybody from this corner to that corner would hear.” The trouble is, this shat is reported to have happened in November, about six months prior to the suicide. It is no evidence of any guilt of the accused. As to the shouting, Payal is using a figure of speech to illustrate her senior reprimanding her loudly. That may cause a few heartburns in human rights activists, but it is common for teachers to shout at students.

Making of Payal as a icon

An agenda needs daily reporting. Usually, suicide case as a news story runs its course out after the accused are remanded to judicial custody. But, newspapers and now newschannels have a way out of this. A strategy to keep the story going. It is to eulogise the deceased. Making Payal Tadvi a heroic figure was very easy for the media. A starry eyed youngster with a supportive family. The first woman from her community to become a doctor. The Bhil Muslim population in her area looking upon her as an inspiration. How she seemed a miracle to her mother when her crippled brother learnt to walk looking at her walking. Making her an icon is followed by putting up a fight for her cause. true or false, just or otherwise.

Ignorance of mental well being by society

Understanding, accepting and getting treated for mental illness is an emerging phenomena. Yet the importance of mental well being is often ignored. Suicide prevention helplines are in place, but many are amateur ventures where the only qualification for getting to be a ‘counsellor’ is a nice manner. With the advent of nuclear family and shifting of people to bigger cities, guidance of experienced seniors, a facility taken for granted in joint families is sorely lacking. 

It is reported that Payal did not seek in-house help because she was afraid her seniors would cite that as a reason for her being unfit for training. There is also a suggestion that timely intervention would have saved her life. This about a doctor.

Sensitisation of general people to these issues should start. A system to address grievances and get sound counselling anonymously from trained counsellors is the need of the hour.

Sins of news media

The coverage of the Payal Tadvi matter is a case study in media manners of the day. From plain lies to suggested falsehoods, the media have done it all. There was a statement reportedly of her husband. He stated that Payal was studying as her maternal family was looking forward to her supporting them. Then how was it that Payal had asked her family to keep the amount of her surrender fees [Rs. 20 Lacs] ready? The transcripts of chats with Payal were leaked almost immediately. None showed any casteist slurs. It was reported that no proof of the same was found in satements of the witnesses  Yet not even one newspaper or channel highlighted that the charges against the accused having used casteist slurs was apparently bogus. 

Questions

The essence of Payal’s story is that she lost her life, unfortunately at an young age. The tragedy is that her story was hijacked in the pursuit of an agenda. Whether the agenda was personal or political, we have all been taken to the edge of class divide when there was no incident like that at all. The question is, who wants to divide the society on the lines of reservation? Who has benefited into pitting two groups against each other?

© Shrirang Choudhary

This post is part of a proposed series on the issue.

For earlier post The sad death of Payal Tadvi, please click here.