Ludhiana, April13
Giving first hand account of the recent carnage in Gujarat the team of city-based doctors from the Christian Medical College and Hospital which returned after volunteering services at the refugee camps at different places in the state earlier this week, said it was a virtual hell there.
Still unable to reconcile to the acts of human brutality, Dr Harpreet Singh Khetarpal, Resident, General Surgery CMC and Dr Tejaz Koshy John, Pre-resident, Neurosurgery CMC narrated hair-raising accounts of their patients’ suffering.
Dr John, while talking to this correspondent, said the human suffering in Gujarat could not be told in words. Hundreds of people were burnt alive, stabbed, shot at, women were raped and houses, shops, factories and even the colonies were razed to the ground. Burnt vehicles could be seen on the roads. There were horrifying tales of suffering, cruelty and misery, as entire families were burnt alive inside their homes using LPG gas, chemical explosives, etc.
“We reached Ahmedabad on March 10 and visited the affected areas, various relief camps and local Al-Amin Hospital to assess the situation and needs of the patients. However, the crisis was nearly over as the severely burnt patients had been shifted to higher centres for expert care and the remaining patients included those suffering from gunshot wounds, stab wounds, burns and minor traumatic injuries to hands, feet, face, head and neck”, said Dr Tejaz John.
Dr Harpreet Khetarpal said at one of the relief camps at Shahi Bhag, Darya Khud, Gummat, as many as 3,500 homeless, riot-affected victims were given shelter. “Most of the patients we attended to, were victims of gunshots, stab injuries and some were suffering from burns”.
Dr John said it was unfortunate to see these patients living in unhygienic conditions at various refugee camps. The rooms were not only overcrowded but dark and damp also. There were many sick patients among them.”Most of the patients were suffering from diaorrhea, conjunctivitis and other such communicable diseases.
