The first anatomy riots in America started in New York in 1788. A medical student, trying to scare away children stealthily watching an anatomy dissection, waved the flayed arm of a cadaver and told one boy, “This is your mother’s arm. I just dug it up.” What began as a cruel joke quickly turned into public outrage. New York witnessed violent protests against grave robbers, attacks on hospitals, and the deaths of several rioters. The incident exposed a deep social anxiety — the violation of the dead, particularly the bodies of the poor and marginalised, who often became unwilling subjects of anatomical study. More than 200 years later, another joke involving cadavers has ignited public anger. A medical student, attending a stand-up comedy performance, joked about students comparing the size of the private parts of cadavers. Social media erupted, and the outrage has largely been directed at Gen Z medical students. This anger is justified and needs deeper reflection.

The student at the centre of the controversy is from my alma mater. In the year 2000, when I entered Seth G S Medical College and KEM Hospital, on our first day of school, we were led into the dissection hall. It was like a rite of passage for naïve medical students. There were no elaborate foundation lectures or presentations on the ethics of handling cadavers. Instead, we had our venerable teachers shepherding us into that space. The dissection hall was a sanctuary — a safe space for the dead who lived on through this noble act, and for the living learners who learnt from the dead to save living patients. The cadavers were placed on tables, like how their relatives would place them for a final........

© Indian Express