Why Are Red Crosses Being Painted On Rooftops Of Hospitals Across India Amid Tensions With Pakistan?

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, images of hospitals painting the Red Cross symbol on their rooftops are emerging across the country. On Wednesday, ANI shared visuals of the Red Cross symbol being painted on the rooftop of the GMC Hospital in Kathua, and similar visuals came from the Gajra Raja Medical College in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.

According to the officials, whenever guidelines are issued by the Indian government, hospitals are marked differently with a red cross upon a white circle to ensure that they are not targeted in the airstrikes. This directive aligns with the Geneva Conventions of 1949, which mandate the protection of medical institutions during armed conflicts.

"Whenever guidelines are issued in regards to national security, as can be seen in the ongoing situation against Pakistan, all the hospitals are marked differently with a red cross upon a white circle, as per the Geneva Conventions international treaty. This is so that the hospitals are spared from the attacks. Under this, we have also painted a red cross on our hospital roofs. This order has been issued by the Indian government across all the categorised cities," Gajra Raja Medical College Dean Dr RKS Dhakad said.

The Red Cross symbol is expected to stimulate a reflex of restraint and respect from the combatants on the battlefield and underlie their humanitarian and relief activities in situations of armed conflicts and natural disasters, according to the Indian Red Cross Society.

During the Diplomatic Conference in 1864, the Red Cross was adopted as the neutral sign to identify and protect the relief medical committees and the army medical services. Traditionally, it was adopted to facilitate access to the wounded soldiers and other victims of war so that much-needed assistance could reach them.

After it was adopted at the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the Red Cross emblem has now become a universally known and legally sanctified neutral sign to identify the people with protected status in situations of armed conflict like the armed forces medical units, the chaplains and the relief committees - who are in the battlefield for the wounded and sick and other victims of war. Under International Humanitarian Law, such individuals are protected from all kinds of hostile military action.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the basic principles of this system is that medical personnel and military civilians are entitled to special protection from attacks, and another is that the activities of medical personnel cannot be prohibited or violated.

Amid heightened tensions with Pakistan, which is now beginning to see strikes and counter-airstrikes across the border states of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a critical advisory to all states and union territories, instructing all hospitals nationwide to prominently display the Red Cross flag, Medical Dialogues reported. With this, hospitals will be recognised as neutral zones to ensure that they are protected from air strikes in case of escalations.

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