---
title: "FOR THE SAKE OF SO CALLED \"HEALTH\" - IVU - International Vegetarian Union"
description: "FOR THE SAKE OF SO CALLED \"HEALTH\": FOR THE SAKE OF SO CALLED &quot;HEALTH&quot; Srimati Rukmini Devi A doctor who can be unkind and cruel, who can inflict suffering for &quot;the sake of humanity&quot; is a most untrustworthy person. Imagine that doctor performing his cruel acts of vivisection"
url: "https://ivu.org/international-vegetarian-union/resources/interviews/3975-congress-wvc57-souvenir-rukmini2.html"
date: "2026-11-05T23:58:41+00:00"
language: "en-GB"
---

#  FOR THE SAKE OF SO CALLED "HEALTH"

 **FOR THE SAKE OF SO CALLED "HEALTH"** Srimati Rukmini Devi

A doctor who can be unkind and cruel, who can inflict suffering for "the sake of humanity" is a most untrustworthy person. Imagine that doctor performing his cruel acts of vivisection and then coming to you and saying that you need an operation! The chief ideal of a doctor should be compassion - he is expected to be filled with pity. Yet many Indian doctors, who have read the lives of the Great Teachers, the words of Lord Buddha, of Bhishma, says: "We must not interfere with Science." An Indian may be a strict vegetarian and so orthodox that he does not want to be polluted by the presence of a Harijan in the Temple where he worships, but he will use cod-liver oil. That is just medicine. He will swallow medicines that are the product of cruelty and gained at the cost of terrible tortures, but that does not matter - they are medicines and all is well! He is thinking of himself and of his own comfort - he is not thinking of humaneness, of kindness. If we will all work together, we can become thousands of people and do much to stop these cruelties. We in India must no longer desecrate our country by allowing these things. Let our Ahimsa be noble, great and real and let us start practising these high principles in our every day live.

\- Conscience, p. 275, 30 May 1940

![](https://ivu.org/images/legacy/history/congress/wvc57/souvenir/rukmini.jpg)

 | A note on this archive. The history section of this website is drawn from a body of legacy content originally compiled by John Davis, former manager of the International Vegetarian Union. It represents his curation of historical material, and in places includes passages written by him directly.  Over the years, the IVU website has migrated between several different hosting servers. In the course of these migrations, a number of PDF files were unfortunately lost, and **some links to PDF documents may no longer function**. Where this is the case, we have chosen to leave the original link text in place, as it may itself carry information of historical value.  - Hits: 1242    ###  Vegan Recipes   - [![Moroccan Lentil Soup With Coriander Oil](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/moroccan-lentil-soup-with-coriander-oil-1775422863_b5ccf02cb9af3a27ab125de074ebbb4e.jpg "Moroccan Lentil Soup With Coriander Oil")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/moroccan-lentil-soup-with-coriander-oil.html "Moroccan Lentil Soup With Coriander Oil")           ####  [Moroccan Lentil Soup With Coriander Oil](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/moroccan-lentil-soup-with-coriander-oil.html "Moroccan Lentil Soup With Coriander Oil")            [Main course](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/main-course-for-lunch-and-dinner.html) [Soups](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/soup.html) [Morocco](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/morocco.html) [African](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/african.html) - [![Tanzanian Curried Spinach With Peanut Butter](https://ivu.org/media/zoo/images/tanzanian-curried-spinach-with-peanut-butter-1777937180_66c6a375ec02a62154adeb519142f0ce.jpg "Tanzanian Curried Spinach With Peanut Butter")](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/tanzanian-curried-spinach-with-peanut-butter.html "Tanzanian Curried Spinach With Peanut Butter")           ####  [Tanzanian Curried Spinach With Peanut Butter](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/item/tanzanian-curried-spinach-with-peanut-butter.html "Tanzanian Curried Spinach With Peanut Butter")            [Protein Rich](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/proteiin-rich.html) [Main course](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/main-course-for-lunch-and-dinner.html) [Starters & side dishes](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/snack-side-dishes.html) [African](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/african.html) [Tanzania](https://ivu.org/vegan-recipes-around-the-world/vegan-food-academy/front-page/category/tanzania.html) - 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