Skip to main content

Contempt of court? UP CM taking 'personal vendetta' against Dr Kafeel Khan: Activists

Counterview Desk
Demanding that the Uttar Pradesh government immediately release well-known paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan, a group of more than 100 academicians, activists, researchers, doctors and lawyers have said in an open letter that he is being “targeted at the behest of the chief minister”, wondering, “When is an act of challenging the government a threat under the National Security Act (NSA)?”
Dr Khan came into the limelight in August 2017, when following a surge of Japanese B encephalitis, he used his personal resources to meet the gap in oxygen supply in Baba Raghav Das Medical College and Hospital, Gorakhpur, helping save the lives of several children. “The sudden publicity that he, a Muslim doctor, received inflamed the wrath of chief minister Adityanath Bisht, who is known mostly for his extremely communalised leadership”, alleges the letter.
“Does the fact that he is a Muslim mean that he is less entitled to legal and judicial recourse? If yes, then the words that India is a secular, socialist democracy ring hollow. How are individuals supposed to access justice if a chief minister takes a personal vendetta and bypasses all judicial orders?”, the letter wonders.

Text

We, the undersigned, are a group of academicians, activists, researchers, doctors, lawyers who are deeply concerned about growing communalisation in India, which is adversely affecting people’s livelihoods, right to food, right to health and leading to social and economic boycotts, harassment, physical violence and deep psychological consequences.
In this letter, we would like to draw attention to the completely unacceptable and illegal incarceration of Dr. Kafeel Khan, a paediatrician, who has been imprisoned under the draconian National Security Act (NSA).
Dr Kafeel Khan came into the limelight in August 2017, when a surge of Japanese B encephalitis cases took the lives of hundreds of children, specifically due to the lack of oxygen supply, in Baba Raghav Das Medical college and hospital, Gorakhpur, UP. Dr. Khan, using his personal resources to meet the gap in oxygen supply, and with a team of healthcare personnel, helped to save the lives of several children. 
The sudden publicity that he, a Muslim doctor, received inflamed the wrath of the chief minister, Adityanath Bisht, who is known mostly for his extremely communalised leadership, instigating hatred and calling for violence on Muslims. At that time Dr Khan was put into prison and only released after 9 months when the court gave him bail for want of evidence.
On September 22, 2018, Dr Kafeel went to examine, with permission, the ‘mysterious disease’ that had killed 70 children in 45 days at Bahraich district hospital. Even from here he was picked up and kept in illegal custody for 18 hours, after which sections of the IPC were evoked, and he was kept in prison for a month.
On January 29, 2020, Dr. Kafeel Khan, was again arrested from Bombay airport. On March 19, he penned a letter to the Prime Minister requesting he be released to add to the healthcare work force that was already short numbered. On February 13, 2020 NSA charges were put on him.
On March 23, 2020, the Supreme Court had, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, directed that all prisoners, under trial or convicted and jailed for less than 7 years, should be considered for release on a six-week parole. Dr Kafeel Khan was the only prisoner who was not released and his parole order was suspended.
Should the Supreme Court not intervene to ensure that its orders are implemented, failing which amounts to contempt of court?
The message that this incarceration sends out is that anyone who challenges the government will be brutally suppressed. It is important that citizens, particularly patients, understand that when healthcare staff are not allowed to speak out against violations in healthcare delivery, then it is they, the patients, who suffer.
Japanese B Encephalitis has taken a deadly toll of lives earlier, and any reasonable government would see a doctor who has expertise in the disease as a vital resource to plan preventive strategies. The incident in August 2017, threw light on the pathetic condition of the Gorakhpur hospital which has been allowed to go into dire condition only because of sheer negligence by the government – a story that has been repeating across public hospitals and even more visible in the current Covid-19 pandemic.
However Dr. Khan continues to be targeted at the behest of the chief minister. When is an act of challenging the government a threat under the NSA? Does the fact that he is a Muslim mean that he is less entitled to legal and judicial recourse? 
If yes, then the words that India is a secular, socialist democracy ring hollow. How are individuals supposed to access justice if a chief minister takes a personal vendetta and bypasses all judicial orders? Should the Supreme Court not intervene to ensure that its orders are implemented, failing which amounts to contempt of court?
Clamping down on freedoms have a way of spreading like a Covid-19 pandemic, and before one knows it community spread would have taken place, at which point, solutions are hard to come by. We therefore urge all citizens to come together to challenge the illegal incarceration of Dr Kafeel Khan, his immediate release and re-instatement in the hospital, so that he can fulfill his obligations as a doctor.
---
Click here for the list of signatories

Comments

SHAMIM said…
Free Doctor Kafeel Khan
Bimalananda Kayak. said…
The worst variety of leadership is"to draw power from position".When undeserving people occupy positions this happens very often.





I don't understand how the UP Government especially Yogi is getting away comfortably from not obeying the Court's orders. Government RIPed, Courts RIPed, Media RIPed!

TRENDING

Reducing emission? India among top nations whose coal as energy source going up

By NS Venkataraman*  The State of the Global Climate report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that the year 2023 was the warmest year on record, with the global temperature of 1.4 degree celsius above pre-industrial 1850-1900 base line.

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk  In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Magnetic, stunning, Protima Bedi 'exposed' malice of sexual repression in society

By Harsh Thakor*  Protima Bedi was born to a baniya businessman and a Bengali mother as Protima Gupta in Delhi in 1949. Her father was a small-time trader, who was thrown out of his family for marrying a dark Bengali women. The theme of her early life was to rebel against traditional bondage. It was extraordinary how Protima underwent a metamorphosis from a conventional convent-educated girl into a freak. On October 12th was her 75th birthday; earlier this year, on August 18th it was her 25th death anniversary.

Savarkar 'criminally betrayed' Netaji and his INA by siding with the British rulers

By Shamsul Islam* RSS-BJP rulers of India have been trying to show off as great fans of Netaji. But Indians must know what role ideological parents of today's RSS/BJP played against Netaji and Indian National Army (INA). The Hindu Mahasabha and RSS which always had prominent lawyers on their rolls made no attempt to defend the INA accused at Red Fort trials.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

'Wrong direction': Paris NGO regrets MNC ArcelorMittal still using coal-based steel

By Rajiv Shah  A new report by Paris-based non-governmental research and campaigning organization, Reclaim Finance, has blamed the MNC ArcelorMittal – formed in 2006 following the takeover and merger of the western European steel maker Arcelor (Spain, France, and Luxembourg) by Indian-owned Mittal Steel – for using use “climate destructive” metallurgical coal for its projects in India.

Attack on foreign students: Gujarat varsity's reputation, ranking at stake, say academics

Counterview Desk  Expressing anguish over the attack on international students in Gujarat University hostels, a letter claimed to have been signed by 122 current and former academics has asked the Gujarat Vice Chancellor, Dr Neerja Gupta, to provide emotional support to the attacked students and to ensure their physical safety.  

Poor private sector engagement 'impacting' carbon pricing policy in Global South

Counterview Desk  The joint report by Environmental Defense Fund and Observer Research Fund, "Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects", delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South.  The report claims to provide insights and recommendations for effective carbon pricing strategies in diverse economies.  A note: The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Observer Research Foundation (ORF) have launched the Navigating Carbon Pricing: The G20 Experience and Global South Prospects” report. The report delves into the complex landscape of carbon pricing, examining its application within the G20 nations and the potential implications for emerging economies in the Global South. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of various carbon pricing instruments currently in existence, providing valuable i