By Dr. Fiaz Maqbool Fazili

At SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, emergency services lately came to a standstill. The reason: a differently-abled doctor was assaulted on duty. The doctors walked out, the administration took an emergency call, and the public was divided.

What unfolded wasn’t just a protest. It was a mirror held to a healthcare system that’s been limping for years. And it reopened a question Kashmir has faced before: should doctors ever go on strike?

Across the world, doctors have left their posts in protest over delayed salaries, violence at work, or burnout after months on the frontlines.

These strikes always spark debate. One side sees a profession defending its dignity. The other sees abandonment of duty.

Amid this competing narrative, we tend to forget that doctors are human. They bleed, break down, burn out. They’re often the first to arrive and the last to leave, even in chaos.

When they protest, it’s rarely spontaneous. It’s after memos go unread, complaints unaddressed, and basic security denied.

This cycle is too familiar in Kashmir. There’s trauma in treating........

© Kashmir Observer