Kashmir's Crisis of Trust

At the intersection of medicine, media, and power, a hospital strike in Srinagar reveals deeper fractures in Kashmir’s public institutions.

- Qazi Shibli

At SMHS Hospital in Srinagar, clinical care gave way to institutional collapse. What should have remained an internal strike spiraled into a public confrontation, exposing the fragile scaffolding of Kashmir’s public institutions.

Doctors, attendants, and journalists weren’t allies. They stood opposed, caught in conflict.

Outside the emergency ward, a father carried his electrocuted son, pleading for attention. A doctor, without meeting his eyes, motioned them to leave. Inside, a journalist was physically restrained by an angry doctor.

In that moment, the hospital became a theatre of disorder. The professional codes that normally hold such institutions together seemed to vanish.

All that remained was a struggle, for space, control, meaning, and narrative.

Patients alleged the hospital gates had been shut. Eyewitnesses and video footage supported their claims. Journalists reported what they saw. In response, the institution issued an unequivocal denial during a press conference.

Doctors rejected the coverage as “misrepresentation” and an “attempt to discredit” the profession, instead of starting a discussion about systemic failure.

The reaction echoed what Bourdieu warned of: when credibility becomes the monopoly of the powerful, any challenge is dismissed as defamation.

That evening, a public debate unfolded in real time on Twitter-turned-X. Physicians spoke of exhaustion, assaults by attendants, and hostile media scrutiny. Attendants described being dehumanised, treated not as people but as obstacles.

Journalists defended their role, arguing that reporting from the margins is not bias. It is duty, especially in a place where the voiceless rarely find amplification.