By: Dr. Omar AZIZ (Pulwama)
Prof. Dr. Martyar Sheikh Jalal (R.A.) is
remembered by many not merely as a distinguished cardiologist, teacher and
administrator, but above all as a deeply humane and down-to-earth person. His
life represented an unusual combination of professional excellence,
intellectual achievement, humility and devotion to family. At a time when
professional success is often measured by wealth, status and influence, Dr.
Jalal's life offered a very different definition of achievement: to serve
people, remain grounded and fulfil one's responsibilities with dignity.
He had every opportunity to pursue a life of extraordinary material prosperity. Yet money was never the central motivation of his life. Had wealth been his principal ambition, his long and distinguished medical career could have made him extraordinarily rich. Instead, he devoted himself to medicine, teaching, research, institution-building and the people around him.
His professional journey was remarkable. Dr. Sheikh Jalal obtained his DM in Cardiology from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, one of India's premier medical institutions. His specialization in cardiology placed him among a highly accomplished group of medical professionals at a time when advanced cardiac care was still developing rapidly in India.
After completing his advanced training, he returned to Jammu and Kashmir and became an important figure in the development of cardiology and medical education at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Srinagar.
He served as Professor and Headof the Department of Cardiology at SKIMS, where generations of doctors and medical students benefited from his knowledge and experience. His contribution was not confined to treating patients. As a teacher, he helped shape young medical professionals and contributed to the development of a culture of academic medicine in Kashmir.
His responsibilities later expanded beyond his department. He served as Dean of SKIMS, Srinagar, taking on the difficult task of academic and institutional administration. He subsequently became Director of SKIMS, one of the most important medical institutions in Jammu and Kashmir.
Holding the position of Director of a major medical institution requires much more than medical knowledge. It demands administrative ability, institutional vision, patience and the capacity to work with doctors, researchers, students, nurses, administrators and patients. Dr. Jalal's career demonstrated that he was capable of moving successfully between clinical medicine, teaching, research and administration.
His contribution also extended beyond Jammu and Kashmir. He served as Vice-President of the National Board of Examinations (NBE), New Delhi, an institution associated with postgraduate medical education and examinations. Such responsibilities reflected the national recognition of his professional standing.
His academic contribution was equally significant. More than 200 research papers are attributed to him, reflecting a sustained commitment to medical scholarship. For a physician, research is another form of service: it expands knowledge, improves understanding and potentially benefits patients far beyond the walls of a single hospital.
Yet those who remember Dr. Jalal often speak less about his impressive titles and more about his personality.
Behind the professor, administrator and cardiologist was a person described as extraordinarily simple and approachable. His professional achievements did not, in the eyes of those who knew him, make him distant from ordinary people. He remained, above all, a human being.
Perhaps one of the most moving aspects of his life was his relationship with his mother.
He was the son of a widow, and despite having achieved the qualifications and professional standing necessary to build an illustrious career in New Delhi or elsewhere, he chose to remain close to his mother. His decision reflected a profound sense of duty and affection.
He could have pursued greater professional opportunities outside Kashmir. He could have concentrated exclusively on building a prestigious career in India's major metropolitan centres. Instead, family responsibility and attachment to his mother remained central to his choices.
In an age when children often leave their hometowns in search of professional advancement, his decision carries a powerful message. Success, in his understanding, was not simply about how high one could rise, but also about whom one stood beside while rising.
His devotion to his mother therefore became part of the larger story of his character. He demonstrated that professional ambition and family responsibility need not always be placed on opposite sides of a scale.
The tragedy of Dr. Sheikh Jalal's life lies in the manner in which it ended.
After spending decades saving and improving the lives of patients, educating doctors, conducting research and serving institutions, he was ultimately killed by un-identified terrorists in his native village.
The contrast is painful.
A man whose profession was dedicated
to preserving human life became a victim of violence in the very land to which
he had remained attached. A doctor trained to fight disease could not protect
himself from the violence that engulfed society around him.
His death was therefore not merely the loss of an individual physician. It represented the destruction of a remarkable human resource and a life devoted to public service.
When an accomplished doctor is killed, the loss extends beyond the immediate family. Patients lose a physician, students lose a teacher, institutions lose an administrator, researchers lose a colleague and society loses an example of professional dedication.
Dr. Jalal's story also raises a larger question about the meaning of remembrance.
It is easy to remember accomplished people through their degrees and positions: DM Cardiology, AIIMS; Professor and Head of Cardiology, SKIMS; Dean, SKIMS; Director, SKIMS; Vice-President,NBE; author of numerous research papers.
These achievements matter, and they should be recorded accurately for future generations.
But perhaps the more important legacy is the human being behind those designations.
He demonstrated that intellectual brilliance does not require arrogance, that professional success does not have to produce materialism, and that institutional authority can coexist with humility. His life reminds young doctors and professionals that the ultimate value of a career cannot always be measured by income, titles or possessions.
A successful physician can save thousands of lives indirectly through research and teaching. A dedicated teacher can influence generations. An ethical administrator can strengthen institutions that continue functioning long after his departure. And a compassionate human being can leave memories that survive far beyond professional records.
Prof. Dr. Sheikh Jalal (R.A.) embodied all these dimensions.
His life began with education, grew through medicine and scholarship, expanded into institutional leadership and ended tragically through violence. Yet his legacy should not be defined by the circumstances of his death alone.
It should be defined by the 45 years of active service, by his commitment to medicine, by his academic contributions, by the doctors he taught, by the patients he served, by the institutions he helped lead and by the family responsibilities he never abandoned.
His story is ultimately a reminder that the greatest measure of a human being is not how much wealth he accumulates or how many positions he holds.
It is how many lives he touches, how faithfully he fulfils his responsibilities and how much humanity he retains despite success.
Prof. Dr. Sheikh Jalal (R.A.) left behind a legacy that cannot be reduced to a list of degrees and designations. He was a cardiologist, professor, researcher, administrator and institution-builder—but before all of these, he was remembered as a human being.
And perhaps that is the most enduring tribute to his life:
He had the knowledge to become a great doctor, the ability to become a great administrator, the scholarship to become a respected academic—and yet he remained, above everything else, a humble human being.
May his memory continue to inspire physicians, students and generations of Kashmiris to place service, knowledge, family and humanity above material gain.
May Prof. Dr. Sheikh Jalal (R.A.) rest in eternal peace, and may his legacy of service and humanity endure.
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