Image Courtesy: EPS
In the past year, revolutionary poet and activist Varavara Rao’s family has almost lost count of how many letters, appeals, petitions, they have written just to ensure he gets his right to healthcare, bail, and that they get to meet him in person. What they do have a count of how many responses they have received. Zero! Or maybe just one if you count a two-line acknowledgement from the Maharashtra Governor’s office more than a year ago that the letter had been received, and shall be sent to the concerned department.
In the past year, Rao’s family has written scores of letters to the President, Prime Minister, Home Minister, Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, and Telegana, senior jail authorities and many more. They say they have not received even one response. Now the incarcerated and seriously unwell poet’s wife P. Hemalatha (72), and their daughters P. Sahaja, P. Anala and P. Pavana have written afresh to the NHRC on Friday seeking their intervention to get them updates about Varavara Rao’s medical condition. The family has said they have not heard anything from the hospital and prison authorities.
According to the family, they fear that Rao’s Covid-19 treatment may end around July 28 (14 days since diagnosis). That is also the date that marks six months since the last FIR against rao was filed and the police will have to file a chargesheet. Once Rao is declared cured of Covid-19 the hospital may discharge him as ‘normal and stable’, this fears the family will also be mentioned by the police at the next bail hearing. Rao may then be denied bail and sent back to Taloja jail where his health had begun to deteriorate in the first place.
On July 17, the NHRC had directed that Rao be provided treatment in a reputed super speciality hospital by the State Government of Maharashtra at its cost. Following this, he was admitted at the Nanavati Hospital. The family then got updates from media reports etc but not from the hospital. All the family knows for now is that 80-year-old Rao’s sodium levels were dangerously low, and that he is admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU).
They had appealed to Maharashtra High Court to allow them to see the ailing poet who is under treatment for Covid-19 and has also been diagnosed with low sodium levels which has affected his neurological status according to his relatives. However that plea did not even come up for hearing on Thursday July 23.
Rao’s nephew V Venugopal told SabrangIndia on Friday that the matter was listed at number 61 on Thursday, and the judge ended the video hearing even before it could be discussed. “The issue was 61 on the High Court list but didn’t come to trial. Don’t know when they will take it again. It seems it may not come up for discussion till July 28 now,” he said.
The last official update after Rao was shifted out of Taloja Jail to St George’s hospital to Nanavati hospital, was that he had tested positive for Covid-19. “Denial of any information on Mr. Rao’s health is a direct violation of NHRC’s order dated July 13, 2020. The NHRC had specifically directed the prison authorities to provide all the necessary information about the line of treatment etc given to Rao with the family,” recalled Venugopal.
The family’s consent has also not been sought before giving him any treatment as is done in any hospital, Venugopal added. “His health becoming the subject of public speculation with no official or transparent information from the hospital authorities is causing extreme anxiety to the entire family”. Rao’s wife herself is feeling unwell due to stress and is just waiting to go see him as soon as permission is granted.
According to the family members they have few channels they can approach for intervention, the political class, the judiciary, and both have not been responding. However they are grateful, for the support from the civil society, as even those who may not even agree with Rao’s politics have come to openly support his rights.
This is the family’s latest letter to the NHRC:
July 24, 2020
To, Mr. Debindra Kundra, Focal Point – Human Rights Defenders & Assistant Registrar, National Human Rights Commission, Manav Adhikar Bhawan, Block-C, GPO Complex, INA, New Delhi – 110 023 Email: hrd-nhrc@nic.in
Dear Sir, Sub: Urgent Appeal – Denial of any information about Varavara Rao’s medical condition to his family by the hospital and prison authorities – NHRC Case No. 777/13/20/2020 At the onset, we, the family members of Mr. Varavara Rao, would like to express our gratitude that the NHRC on July 17, 2020, directed that Mr. Rao be provided the best possible treatment in a reputed super speciality hospital by the State Government of Maharashtra at its cost. Following this, he was admitted at the Nanavati Hospital. Today, we are compelled to write this letter to you, as we are denied any information about his condition or his treatment at the Nanavati Hospital. From the time he was shifted out of Taloja Jail to St George’s hospital to Nanavati hospital, the only official information provided to the family was that he had tested positive for the COVID-19. Denial of any information on Mr. Rao’s health is a direct violation of NHRC’s order dated July 13, 2020, whereby it had specifically directed the prison authorities to provide all the necessary medical care and assistance to Shri Rao with intimation to his family members. Completely disregarding this NHRC directive, the family was not informed, by either hospital or prison authorities, about a head injury discovered on him upon arrival at the Nanavati hospital. We learnt about it only from friends in media and civil society. Consequently, we receive no official updates from the hospital or the prison authorities and our consent isn’t taken for any of the critical treatment that may be required to administer him. His health becoming the subject of public speculation with no official or transparent information from the hospital authorities is causing extreme anxiety to the entire family. We believe that the health updates of a person in judicial custody must be shared with his family. Denial of regular health updates to the family of Mr. Rao is not only unconstitutional but it is a cruel and an inhuman act. It is the family’s right to get routine updates about the medical status of a patient, any treatment that he is undergoing and the risks involved regarding the same. Keeping us in the dark about Mr. Rao’s medical status is a flagrant violation of the NHRC directive. We urge the NHRC to intervene urgently in this matter and to immediately direct the hospital and prison administrations to provide transparent, official updates on Mr. Rao’s health status and line of treatment every six hours to us – his family members. The NHRC should also consider directing the hospital authorities to provide us with a point-of-contact in the hospital for regular updates and to make medical records accessible to his family. We believe as Mr. Rao’s family we should have access to information and patient concerned as it should be according to the law of the land and medical ethics. We also urge the NHRC to direct the concerned authorities to allow a family member to assist/attend him, since he is reportedly not in a position to do anything on his own. Yours sincerely, P. Hemalatha (Wife of Varavara Rao) P. Sahaja P. Anala P. Pavana (Daughters) |
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