Dr Kafeel Khan issue , an accused in the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy, was once again by Samajwadi Party leaders who alleged that he is being “deliberately harassed” by the authorities. The matter was brought up by party leaders Rajpal Kashyap and Rajesh Yadav on the third day of the Winter Session of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
Paediatrician Dr Kafeel Khan, was an accused in the infamous BRD Medical College incident in Gorakhpur in which close to 60 kids, mainly infants, died allegedly due to disruption in oxygen supply over unpaid bills to the supplier. After spending more than seven months in jail, he was granted bail by the Allahabad high court in April this year
In a letter to the Chief Secretary of the Legislative Council, SP leader Rajpal Kashyap questioned why a decision on whether Dr Khan is to be terminated or reinstated from his post has not been reached one-and-a half years later, even when the Supreme Court clearly gives a 90-day period for the completion of an investigation.
Blaming the Yogi Adityanath led UP government of starting the “trend of punishing the innocent,” Kashyap further stated, no kind of compensation has been provided to the families of the children who lost their lives in the incident.
The questions raised by Kashyap have been accepted by the Council and have been forwarded to the government.
Dr Kafeel Khan, himself too, wrote to Yogi Adityanath, urging him to either terminate or reinstate him from the post. “I have written letters to authorities 22 times before also but have not got reply to even a single letter. I am facing issues as I have a family to feed. In the past 16 months, neither has the departmental inquiry been completed, nor any kind of a decision (on my fate) been reached. I hereby request you to take some decision to reinstate me or to terminate me and kindly allow me to take decision for my future,” he wrote.
Speaking to News18, Dr Kafeel said that he holds the government responsible for turning his life into a “nightmare.” “It is nothing but government sponsored victimisation,” he said, adding that whatever happened on the ill-fated night of August 10, 2017 was a “massacre.”
“14 reminders in six months were received by the government for the faulting payments of the oxygen cylinders, but the authorities refused to take the matter seriously,” he said. Calling his arrest a conspiracy, he further alleged that he was put behind bars because certain people “feared that he would speak the truth.”
