Shahzaib’s treatment in the US

When rules beg for exceptions

The case of Muhammad Shahzaib Bajwa, a 20-year-old Pakistani exchange student now comatose in the US, is a saddening tale of how misfortune can strike you. Wasn’t it enough that he was comatose for almost three months after an unfortunate traffic accident that the hospital authorities in the US want to transfer him to Pakistan, still comatose, on a flight that would at least take 24 hours in the air? The student’s visa is set to expire within two weeks and the US State Department, up till now, has decided not to extend his visa. With the hospital authorities saying that they are merely following State Department’s decision, no course is left for his family other than to make pleas on human grounds to keep him there where he can get the best medical facilities, rather than sending him back to Pakistan where his family might not have enough to support his medical bills for more than three months.

It is necessary that the governments institute and follow rules, but on a philosophical level rules are meant to make people feel that their life is safe, instead of turning it into a living hell. Following the rules where they can cause more dismay and hurt than they are meant to protect, they must be changed or at least an exception be made. The medical insurance company and the State Department of the USA may be following the rules to the letter, but their action is putting a person’s life in considerable danger, something no one with conscience would allow. Shahzaib’s family is frantically trying to gather enough support to move a Congressman or a third party organisation to intervene on their behalf, and as his particular situation makes a befitting case for an exception to the rules, one hopes that they would be allowed to keep him there, for at least a period the doctors say that they may be able to decide what his chances of recovery are. Before that, sending him back is like sentencing a man to gallows, for no fault of his own.

It is necessary that the governments institute and follow rules, but on a philosophical level rules are meant to make people feel that their life is safe, instead of turning it into a living hell. Following the rules where they can cause more dismay and hurt than they are meant to protect, they must be changed or at least an exception be made.

After 9/11, the US administration sought tougher immigration and visa rules which have kept the country safe from any major terrorism incident, but the same have also put many people under undue duress and humiliation. The case of a famous Indian actor, how he was treated just because his name contained ‘Khan’ and was flagged as a suspicious person by the US airport security officials, should have told the Americans it is time to revisit their policies that have isolated them over the years. This cannot be continued anymore. The US administration must find a way to discern genuine cases and allow them to be treated differently from the rest of the cases. Shahzaib’s case would certainly fall in the genuine category.