Srinagar: Labourer Mohammad Sultan has carried heavy loads for the last 30 years but the heaviest load would be a tiny body of only 12 kgs, it was the body of Manan his two-year-old son. He had to hide from everyone using a blanket and travelled for two days in a bus until they reached Kishtwar, where this incident caused a massive protest.
The baby could have been saved if the family was able to move Kishtwar deputy commissioner Angrez Singh Rana and force him to take action so that they could have a critical care ambulance, but neither him nor his subordinates bothered to act, which has caused the death of the baby. Rana has reacted to these protests by claiming that they are of political nature and that there was no ambulance available at that time as it was stuck in a traffic jam.
After this incident, both Sultan and his nephew, Muzaffar Hussain are in a state of shock and deep grief.
Recalling the events, Hussain said that they had taken Manan to Kishtwar hospital after he started to feel drowsy in his home village of Kishtwar. He stated that Manan was administered some medicines but he had not shown any improvement. He was thus referred to Jammu’s children’s hospital for a case of acute pneumonia.
He also recounted the event when he went to the DC’s house to request for an ambulance, but all he got was a response that no one dies of pneumonia!
The protesters who have taken to the streets demand an FIR against Rana for what he has done. Sajjad Ahmed Najjar, a local councillor has flayed the DC as he led a protest outside District Hospital, Kishtwar.