“In a jail made for 534 inmates, there are 1,600 people kept with one barrack holding at least 100-125 of us. There are just 4-6 toilets,” Dr. Kafeel Khan wrote unveiling the torturous conditions inmates are subjected to even at the time of a pandemic.

This is a part of the pediatrician’s second purportedly hand-written letter from the Mathura prison where he is currently lodged since January 2020 for a speech where he allegedly criticized the government during the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests. Though he was granted bail on February 10 by a court in Aligarh, the UP government invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against him to ensure his continuous incarceration.

While you shower flowers on some doctors, others are treated like criminals for speaking truth to power. Dr. Kafeel Khan writes from Mathura jail about the grave conditions in jail. pic.twitter.com/PC2HJfagI9

— Nabiya Khan | نبیہ خان (@NabiyaKhan11) July 4, 2020

The four page letter highlights the inmates’ daily struggle – living in indescribable filth, surviving on unpalatable meals and living with the threat to life due to congestion and no social distancing.

Relaying the dangerous prison conditions, Dr. Khan wrote, “With just one attached toilet, 125-150 inmates, the smell of their sweat and urine mixed with unbearable heat due to electricity cuts makes life hell over here: A living hell indeed. I try to read but cannot focus due to suffocation. It sometimes feels that I might fall due to dizziness caused by that suffocation. So I keep on drinking water.”

Saying that it was impossible to focus on anything, he further said, “After reading the maghrib prayers, I sit with a novel for a long time, trying to read at least a bit. But all in vain as it is so suffocating that I can’t just explain…”

Conveying the unbearable situation in jail, he added, “The entire barrack seems like a fish market infused with all kinds of smells including those someone coughing, sneezing, farting, urinating or sweating. Some people snore, some fight, some scratch themselves. Usually the entire night is spent sitting, waiting for the morning.”

The coronavirus situation had made it worse Khan expressed. While his family could visit before and offer some respite in terms of solace and food, Khan said that now he had to survive on watery dal and boiled vegetables. He wrote, “Due to the coronavirus, nobody can even meet me from outside. Otherwise they would bring me fruits and that would be good enough to survive on, but not now.”

The doctor also questioned his detention saying, “I don’t know why I am being punished. I don’t know when I will be able to see my children, my wife, my mother and my brothers and sister. I don’t know when I will as a doctor, fulfil my duties and fight the menace of Coronavirus alongside my brethren.”

On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court ordered for the decongestion of prisons due to the coronavirus pandemic. It was reported by The Indian Express that till June 25, a total of 17,963 prisoners had been released on parole as per the SC directives. However, Khan wasn’t one of them.

Just as Khan had requested now, to be allowed to fulfil his duties as a doctor, he had earlier written a letter to PM Modi on March 19, offering help to fight the coronavirus infection, using the 20 years of experience he had in the medical field. In this letter, he had also provided a roadmap to fight the virus advising the government to “Increase the testing strength (1 in each district), isolation wards (1000 in each districts), opening of new ICUs, extensive training of the doctors/paramedics, support groups including AYUSH and private sectors, curb the rumors, avoid unscientific views and mobilize all resources as soon as possible.”

एक तरफ मोदी जी देश के डॉक्टरों का उनकी सेवा के लिए आभार प्रकट कर रहे हैं और दूसरी तरफ डॉ कफ़ील खान जिन्होंने हज़ारो बच्चों की जान बचाई उन्हें झूठे मुक़दमे लगाकर जेल में बंद कर रखा है। @drkafeelkhan pic.twitter.com/3lOfYHxQV7

— Chandra Shekhar Aazad (@BhimArmyChief) March 27, 2020

However, seemingly in a bid to save face, the police are questioning the veracity of Khan’s current letter, reported Ummid.com While Khan’s brother, Adeel Ahmed Khan said that Khan had written the letter on June 15 and it had reached the family on July 1, Mathura Jail Superintendent Shailendra Maitri said, “Kafeel denies having written any letter. We screen all the outgoing mails, and did not see any such letter written by Kafeel. And after the lockdown began, no one has been allowed to meet the inmates. So, how did the alleged letter go out?”

Khan was earlier suspended by the Uttar Pradesh government in the case of the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur, where the lack of oxygen supply had taken the lives of more than 60 children and had spent nine months in prison for alleged medical negligence. However, he was given a clean-chit in the matter and acquitted in the case after a government-appointed inquiry.

Related:

 Dr Kafeel Khan still behind bars, wife Shabista appeals for release

Dr. Kafeel Khan arrested in Mumbai for remarks at anti-CAA rally in AMU

Vindicated! Govt probe absolves Kafeel Khan of False Charges

The post Kafeel Khan describes prison to be ‘a living hell’ in letter from jail appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Dr. Kafeel Khan ( Photo Twocirccles.net)

The IMA has written to the Prime Minister of India to revoke the suspension order and also to withdraw all legal cases against Dr. Kafeel Khan.

The IMA has also stated in their letter that the shortage of oxygen cylinders in the hospital were due to nonpayment of bills to the vendors. But Dr. Kafeel was accused of negligence even though he had bought cylinders from his money and saved the lives of several children.

According to RTI (Right to Information) this fact has been revealed. And the government has accepted that there was shortage of liquid oxygen for 54 hours in BRD Medical College on August 10, 11 and 12 and Dr Khan had indeed arranged jumbo oxygen cylinders to save the children.

The doctors also drew attention of the PM to the sufferings of Dr. Khan and his family ever since his suspension and subsequent slapping of criminal cases against him. They urged the PM to compensate the doctor for the period he was suspended.

The High Court of Allahabad had also in its affidavit accepted the shortage of oxygen supply in the hospital.

The Supreme Court had asked the UP Government to pay all the subsistence allowances to Dr. Kafeel Khan pending his suspension.

However the court directions were not followed and Dr. Kafeel Khan who was wrongfully jailed and his character was tinted did not get the respite due to him. His suspension was not revoked now the compensation paid to him.

During the time when the IMA strongly supported the junior doctors who had been assaulted in a hospital in West Bengal in June, Dr. Kafeel had requested the IMA to lend their support to him as well.

Two months later the IMA decided to support Dr. Kafeel and have written to the PM in which they have stated:

“IMA identifies with Dr Kafeel Khan and proclaims solidarity with him in these difficult times. We request you to kindly further Dr khan’s cause to help him get justice,” .

“Dr Kafeel Khan’s suspension may kindly be revoked at the earliest and he may be compensated. Kindly prevail on the government of Uttar Pradesh to withdraw all pending legal cases against Dr Kafeel Khan and BRD Oxygen Tragedy may be investigated by central agencies,”.

Courtesy: Two Circle

The post IMA finally writes to PM to withdraw Dr. Kafeel’s suspension appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
New Delhi: On May 10, a division bench of Hon’ble supreme court of India comprising Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Indira Banerjee ordered the enquiry regarding suspension of Dr. Kafeel Khan to be concluded timely and has further directed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh to pay all subsistence allowances payable to Dr. Kafeel Khan pending his suspension.

 
Dr. Kafeel was represented before the Court by Senior Advocate Ms. Meenakshi Arora and Advocate on Record Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi.
 
In a video posted on his Twitter account, Dr. Kafeel Khan stood in front of the Supreme Court and spoke about the order. He said that the Yogi government will have to speed up the trial and pay him subsistence allowance pending for 20 months.

 
In the video, he said that the Yogi govt wants the case to remain suspended so that an enquiry against the real culprits is not taken up. He named the two doctors and said that their greed for 10% commission had led to 70 children dying at the BRDO Hospital. He was thankful to the Supreme Court for giving him relief during Roza.
 
A Twitter campaign to revoke Dr. Kafeel Khan’s suspension order was announced on March 15. “It’s been 18 months and I am still suspended. Even though the High Court has given me a clean chit, the Yogi government is neither revoking my suspension nor letting me serve,” he said announcing the campaign, adding that he was being punished for a crime he didn’t commit and he needed public support.
 
He has urged Twitter users to use the hashtag #RevokeDrKafeel and use links of the #BRDOXYGENTRAGEDY in their tweets and urge the government to revoke his suspension. “Please help me to raise my voice. I just tried to save innocent kids,” he said.
 
In December 2018, talking straight from the Gorakhpur criminal court, Dr. Kafeel Khan said that things have not changed much in the last one and a half years. “What should have been finished in 90 days since the Supreme Court order, is still going on one and a half years later. No enquiry has begun,” he said.
 
In September, suspended paediatrician of BRD Medical College Hospital Dr. Kafeel Khan was arrested by Bahraich police for allegedly creating nuisance at the district hospital and later granted bail. A day after he was granted bail, Gorakhpur police arrested him and his brother for allegedly opening a bank account in a nationalised bank using fake documents.
 
He was arrested following deaths of around 30 children in August at the BRD Medical College. The kids had allegedly died of disruption in the oxygen supply in August 2017. In April 2018, Khan got bail in the case but has been mired in different conspiracies along with a vicious attack on his brother ever since he decided to take on the authorities.
 
Dr. Kafeel Khan, the head of the encephalitis ward in the hospital, managed to save many lives and the parents in the hospital said that had it not been for his work, the number of deaths could have been higher.
 
However, this did not make Kafeel Khan a hero in the eyes of the administration. Khan was booked for criminal conspiracy, attempt to commit culpable homicide and criminal breach of trust by a public servant, among others. The police filed the chargesheet in November 2017.
 
Lodged in a Gorakhpur jail since September 2, 2017, Dr. Kafeel Khan in his letter alleged that he and others are being made “scapegoats” for an “administrative failure” at a higher level.
 
In one of the most extensive interviews, Dr. Kafeel Khan spoke to Human Rights activist Teesta Setalvad on the chilling accounts of what happened during the tragic 48 hours in August 2017. Dr. Khan was hailed as a hero initially and in a day’s time, he was haunted as the most wanted. Even though the public got to know that it was the lack of oxygen which caused the deaths of children, we do not know everything that happened in-between.

 
Dr. Kafeel Khan dismissed point by point, all propaganda to the contrary. He also went on to describe how Yogi warned him and how he had to pay a heavy price for doing his duty. In one of the most chilling disclosures, Dr. Khan sought everyone’s attention to what happened in the other departments of the hospital on the same days. The liquid oxygen had run out of supply to all the other departments as well, but nobody talked about it.
 

The post SC relief for Dr. Kafeel Khan, Yogi govt ordered to pay all subsistence allowances appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Gorakhpur: Talking straight from the Gorakhpur criminal court, Dr. Kafeel Khan said that things have not changed much in the last one and a half years. “What should have been finished in 90 days since the Supreme Court order is still going on one and a half years later. No enquiry has begun,” he said on Monday through a Facebook live video from his profile.

 
 
He added that he has to visit the court every 14 days just to sign some documents. Every other week he has to shuttle between Allahabad and Lucknow to appear either keep tabs on the probe initiated over his brother’s attack or for his job. “They are neither revoking my suspension nor letting me serve,” he said.
 
Along with him were a pharmacist and an accounting clerk who were jailed for a year in the BRD medical tragedy case. They said in the video that they had no role to play in the incident and had no connection to it at all. They said that they followed the orders given to them by their superiors but caught got in this judicial trap.
 
“Whatever the authorities are doing, I urge them to come to a decision. Either let me go or let me serve. People who have no role in the tragedy are being hounded, put in jails for a year and are left with no jobs. They have families and small children and everyone needs to earn their daily bread. I just have a message for the authorities and the government that you can intimidate us as much as you want, we will rise with a new spirit every day and we are not afraid of you,” Dr. Khan said in the video.

He even requested UP CM Yogi Adityanath to expedite the enquiry through a letter on Tuesday. He urged him to request the authorities to come to a solution sooner.
 
In September, suspended paediatrician of BRD Medical College Hospital Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested by Bahraich police for allegedly creating nuisance at the district hospital and later granted bail. A day after he was granted bail, Gorakhpur police arrested him and his brother for allegedly opening a bank account in a nationalised bank using fake documents.
 
He was arrested in September last year following deaths of around 30 children in August at the BRD Medical College. The kids had allegedly died of disruption in the oxygen supply in August 2017. In April this year, Kafeel got bail in the case but has been mired in different conspiracies along with a vicious attack on his brother ever since he decided to take on the authorities.
 

The post Dr. Kafeel Khan still awaits justice appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Gorakhpur: On the first anniversary of the Gorakhpur Medical tragedy, Dr. Kafeel Khan has organised a free and discounted medical camp for Encephalitis on Aug 11 in Gorakhpur. He was falsely accused of causing the death of over 60 children due to the lack of oxygen supply. The incident had occurred on the night of Aug 10-11 in 2017.
 
Dr. Khan was in charge of the paediatrics wing at BRD Medical and had arranged oxygen cylinders from a private hospital when the incident occurred last year. He was removed and arrested on charges of negligence. He wrote a letter from jail detailing his actions and how he procured cylinders and paid off suppliers with his own money to save children at the hospital. He recently got bail in April.
 
As a way to honour the children’s memory and share the pain of the parents who lost them, he has organised an Encephalitis screening camp on Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm. Free medicines can be availed and screenings will be conducted at 50% discounted rates.
 
“I want to pay tribute to all those innocent children who lost their life on 10th of Aug 2017 #BRDOXYGENTRAGEDY due government administrative failure. I demand justice /compensation for grieving parents,” he tweeted.

Related Articles:

The post Dr. Kafeel Khan to host a free medical camp on anniversary of BRD Medical tragedy appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Watch Dr Khan open up like never before to Teesta Setalvad – third part of a 4 part interview.

In this interview, Dr. Kafeel Khan talks about being released from jail and how he was convinced about the fact that what the government was doing is not good for the country. “They are hitting at India’s soul” he says. He goes on to talk about how, when growing up one would here people saying that India is a place where everyone be it a Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isai could live together, how he decorates his home during Diwali, how he plays with colours during Holi how he has visited Haridwar. But, in the last five, ten years things have changed. The Government is responsible for spreading hatred and violence. “All this is going to affect the integrity of this nation. Will generations to come want to live in this India?” he says.

He wrote a strong letter after being released from jail, which stated that all those who were responsible for the deaths of children in the BRD Medical College incident must be questoned and punished. Where is the justice for those children who died that day?

Here are some facts of the day his brother, Kashif Jameel was shot at. Gorakhnath temple is a high security area, the Chief Minister was present on that day (10th of June). His brother had just offered Namaz and was heading to Bata to buy their mother a pair of slippers. On his way back, two men on a scooter, came out of nowhere and shot at him. He fell and started running. The two men followed him and shot at him two more times. He says, “if they had shot at him a forth time then he would have died.”

The post “If they had shot at him a fourth time then he would have died”: Dr Kafeel Khan (Part 3) appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The post Dr. Kafeel Khan Uncut with Teesta Setalvad (Coming soon) appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
In August 2017, 23 children died overnight at Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghubar Das Medical College Hospital, allegedly because of an oxygen shortage. Dr. Khan, a paediatrician working in the encephalitis ward at the hospital, rushed to arrange for oxygen cylinders, earning respect for his quick efforts.
 
However, on August 13, 2017, he was removed from his position as nodal officer, just days after the incident. In September, 2017, Dr. Khan was arrested in connection with the children’s deaths and also over corruption charges that have since been dropped. Khan is one of the nine accused in the childrens’ deaths, including the medical college’s principal, the principal’s wife, and the owner of the agency that supplied oxygen to the hospital. 
 
The alleged lack of oxygen reportedly took place because of a payment disagreement with a private supplier. Then, District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela had said he found out from doctors at the hospital that none of the deaths took place because of a lack of oxygen; the state government issued an official release denying reports about an oxygen shortage at the hospital. The government has attributed the children’s deaths to other causes.
 
Dr. Khan’s Heartfelt Letter
Days ago, while still in prison, Khan penned a letter sharing his plight. The later was made public by his wife who visited him in prison. In it, he describes how he worked to gather 250 cylinders of oxygen during the shortage, paying for them himself.
 
In the letter, he narrates his encounter with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, saying: 
“He asked: So you are Dr Kafeel? You arranged the cylinders?”
“Yes sir.”
“He got angry: So you think by arranging cylinders you became hero? I will see it.”
 
According to Khan, Adityanath was angered over how the incident making its way to the media. 
 
Dr. Khan writes that his family was tortured and threatened by the police, saying that he “surrendered to save my family from the humiliation, misery, thinking that when I have not done anything wrong, I should get justice”. He explains that he was not involved with the purchase, tender, order, maintenance, supply or payment of the liquid oxygen at the hospital.
 
Instead, he says the guilty are Gorakhpur’s district magistrate, the director general of medical education, the principal secretary of health education, who he says did not act on the 14 reminders to pay the outstanding dues. Khan calls the oxygen shortage “a total administrative failure at a higher level, they did not realise the gravity… They made us the scapegoat and put us behind the bars so that the truth will remain inside Gorakhpur jail.”

The post Gorakhpur’s Hero Doctor Comes Back Home appeared first on SabrangIndia.