Independence Day in Gorakhpur
Dear friends, readers
of this blog
Today is the 70th
anniversary of India’s independence. For the past many decades (despite my critical
attitude) I have always defended the democratic values embodied in our constitution and
the greatness of our independence movement. And I have been clear in my
opposition to hatred and violence of all kinds, whether emanating from
religious fanatics, ultra patriots, or revolutionary zeal.
But today I can only think of the dead babies of Gorakhpur. All the tall talk of political leaders makes me sick. Please see these photos of the tragedy in Gorakhpur, they are heartbreaking. Little children in the last hours of their lives, suffocating to death for no fault of theirs.
But today I can only think of the dead babies of Gorakhpur. All the tall talk of political leaders makes me sick. Please see these photos of the tragedy in Gorakhpur, they are heartbreaking. Little children in the last hours of their lives, suffocating to death for no fault of theirs.
Rarely do public
events make me weep, but when I saw these photographs I was so upset I couldn’t sleep. The
last time this happened was over the death of the raped and murdered young woman
Jyoti Singh Pandey in 2012. I wept for her. And this year, the judicial murder
of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo moved me intensely. Those were the tragedies of two brave persons.
But this tragedy defies comprehension. Seventy-two children
dead, ranging from a few days old to their teens.
More important than political issues is the
philosophical question: How can God allow babies and little
children to suffocate to death? What is the point of all our prayers to the
Almighty?
In the midst of this all that the Uttar Pradesh government and the hegemons of the BJP can do is to protect their 'image'! It is so typical of their ideologues to use
the word ‘unfortunate’ to describe this enormity. And to ask ‘didn’t these
things happen under the Congress’? They have even indulged in their favourite pastime of communal baiting of a doctor who happens to be Muslim. These people are heartless
and shameless. What in Hindi we call maryadaheen. Their much vaunted patriotism is a deceitful diversion from their lust for power. If the followers and admirers
of the RSS can set aside their partisanship for five minutes, can they please exercise
what remains of their conscience and ask:
What would you have
said if this took place under any other government?
This comment sums it up: It is not unfortunate, sir. It is a tragedy
of monumental proportions. It is an unprecedented medical savagery and defies
all logic. It is horrific... The Uttar Pradesh government has the blood of 60
children on its hands. The saffron robes of its chief minister are tainted with
the blot of incompetence, insensitivity and, as Noble laureate Kailash
Satyarthi rightly says, the massacre of infants. In any other country run by a
sensitive and competent government, these children could have been easily
saved. Because they did not die of a sudden calamity or in a tragic incident
that could not have been averted…
What is the use of a magisterial enquiry? What can the magistrate even do, bring the children back to life? For sheer brutal incompetence and indifference to human life, this is a world record. Granted that the children come from modest backgrounds and their parents have no clout. They can be told, "here take the bodies home. We are so sorry, but don't make a fuss, yeh hotha hai."
What is the use of a magisterial enquiry? What can the magistrate even do, bring the children back to life? For sheer brutal incompetence and indifference to human life, this is a world record. Granted that the children come from modest backgrounds and their parents have no clout. They can be told, "here take the bodies home. We are so sorry, but don't make a fuss, yeh hotha hai."
The 1980 filmed version
of A Tale of Two Cities opens with the coach of a French
nobleman running over a poor child and trampling it to death. The aristocrat inside
the coach reacts with irritation at this minor nuisance. Before ordering his
coachman to drive off, he throws a coin from his window at the bereaved father holding
the little corpse in his arms.
The children of the
poor are just dirt for these rulers.
So was it in France in 1789. So it is in India today.
Jai Hind
Dilip
Dilip
PS - Here is a poem by a doctor:
Then they reached,
seventy of them,
In shrouds as white as
the lilies of the field.
They cried, they
wailed, they gasped for air,
Their caring moms left
behind.
A man with a skin made
from light,
His gentle look and
the magic wand.
He tried his best to
make them smile,
His tricks failed, his
magic wanting.
It all but failed to
make them beam,
The little angels
still searched for their moms.
And then there came a
group as white as their shrouds,
A group led by an old
man with no teeth.
He had no teeth but
his smile was sweet,
As sweet as mother’s
love.
His naked chest bore
three holes, full of light,
White and soft, a
light of hope.
And along with him
came an old lady,
Her wrinkled skin was
clear like truth.
She wore a white sari
with a blue border,
And they all called
her mother.
The old man with a
chest of light jested with the tiny angels,
And the mother put
them to sleep, one by one.
She sang a lullaby
from the years gone by,
And then the seventy
of them slept in peace.
Their tiny chest not
wanting for air,
Their cold hands not
searching for moms.
In shrouds as white as
the lilies of the field
- Shah Alam Khan
India’s dismal record in healthcare New research by ‘Lancet’ shows India ranks 154 out of 195 countries in terms of access to healthcare, which is worse than Bangladesh, Nepal, Ghana and Liberia
