Mumbai: Dr Kafil, who was arrested in connection with the death of patients due to lack of oxygen at Gorakhpur Hospital in Uttar Pradesh, has now written a book about the incident. While the book claims to shed light on the actual matter and is available in the market, Dr Kafil says that since the release of the book, he has been facing even more harassment from the government.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Dr Kafil Khan talks about the incident, the book and the current political situations in the wake of the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.
Dr Kafil was one of the 8 people arrested during the Gorakhpur Hospital Tragedy of 2017, wherein 63 children had lost their lives due to a shortage of oxygen. He received a lot of flak from not just the government but also the media and the common masses after the tragic deaths. Although he was given a clean chit by the Supreme Court in the matter, he has been expelled from his job just a month before elections and after he released his book in which he has highly criticised the UP government.
"I released this book on December 17, 2021. Immediately on December 20, the police was at my door for what they call a 'general investigation'. Yogiji has gotten me arrested 4 times in 5 years already. Now my mother gets scared when she sees the police. They have made three visits in the last one month, and I have seen my mother lose sleep over it," he said.
Mother scared, but convinced her
Dr Kafil further said that he was advised to not write this book by his well-wishers, especially by his mother. "When I was writing this book, my mother had told me that it is Satan that I am trying to pick a fight against. But I reminded her that it's her who has taught me to battle the wrongs; that someone who sees injustice and still doesn't speak up against it, is equally responsible for that injustice. And I m not going to be that person," he said firmly, while narrating how he convinced his mother for letting him write the book.
While speaking about the contents of the book, he said, "Through this book, I have tried to show the truth about how the people in the government are stone-hearted and it doesn't matter even remotely to them even if people are dying. When the 63 children in the BRD medical college had died, the health minister had given a very insensitive statement saying it's normal for people to die in August. The book has evidence, here is a letter addressed to Yogi Adityanath and the health minister in April 2017 that clearly states that the money has not been issued and there is a lack of oxygen. But no action was taken, and the blame was conveniently put on the authorities and others," he said.
Aim of the book
He further said that through this book, he has tried to convey to his readers the painful story of all the 63 children and their 80 families, as well as of the doctors who had to bear the pain of not being able to save the children along with the added blame. He has criticised the government as well as the sections of the media who portrayed him as a hero and then the villain of the entire situation.
Speaking about the Covid situation, he said that the popular belief that the pandemic has led to the collapse of the health infrastructure is not true. "The pandemic has just exposed how weak our health system already is. The government has been putting curtains over everything. Do you remember how Ganga was flooded with dead bodies due to the lack of oxygen? It was horrifying. It in fact inspired the opening lines of my book - Non supplying Oxygen to the hospitals is a criminal act, not less than a genocide. Someone has to be held responsible for it. How can they deny that there has not been any death? How can someone even dare do that?" he said.
On the upcoming election
Opining on the upcoming elections, he said that it's a mere coincidence that his book was released just before the elections and he has no intentions of establishing any sort of political impact. Speaking in general, he said that Yogi Adityyanath has largely lost the trust of the people as well as hi own party and would n]therefore not come back to power as a CM even if the BJP wins these elections.
Dr Kafil further said that the publishers are scared of publishing the book in Hindi and Urdu and are insisting that they may do it after March, depending on the party in power. Talking about his interest in politics, he said that he feels like he has been dragged into it since after 2017. "I am a privileged man. But when I was subjected to injustice, I realised that there are so many voiceless people who can't fight for themselves, so I have started being vocal for them. I have even started the 'Health for All' initiative to facilitate good health care for everyone. I have also been trying to get the 'right to healthcare' through the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, hoping that it becomes law someday," he said.
