Would you like to elaborate on Dr Kafeel Khan's role in this tragedy?
Oh I've been waiting for that. Too many alerts, so unable to answer all of them. Coming to the point.
Some one has to bear the brunt, Poor Khan ended up taking up the blame... We all know the knee jerk reaction of politicians, this is just one such act. Do read the below
Gorakhpur’s Dr Kafeel Khan: What We Know About Him & What We Don’t
In a strange turn of events, Dr Kafeel Khan, the Gorakhpur doctor who allegedly “saved children’s lives” as the BRD Medical College and Hospital battled an oxygen supply shortage, was removed as the nodal officer for the Department of Pediatrics on Sunday.
Dr Khan, who was in charge of the encephalitis ward at the hospital where 64 kids have died in the last 6 days, was initially hailed as a hero for his ‘quick thinking’.
The doctor confirmed his sacking, as he was quoted by a
Times of Indiareport as saying:
It’s a smear campaign against me. I was only trying to help the children...Dr Kafeel Khan
Also Read: Gorakhpur Live: Yogi Vows Probe; UP Cong Wants Him to Resign
While Dr Bhupendra Sharma would be replacing him as the nodal officer, the
TOI report did add that Khan would continue serving as a doctor in the hospital.
With his sacking, a plethora of questions have emerged. Here’s what we know about him and what we don’t.
When and Why Was Dr Khan Sacked?
What we know: As per a
Hindustan Times report, the reasons behind Khan's sacking were ‘dereliction of duty’ as well as ‘carrying out private practice’.
The same report claimed that according to sources in the BRD Medical College and Hospital, Khan had “concocted tales” of his own ‘heroic acts’. Khan
reportedly also runs a private practice – a 50-bed children’s hospital called Medispring Hospital and Research Centre in Gorakhpur, which is owned by his wife.
KK Gupta, director general, medical education (Gorakhpur), questioned Khan's action of arranging for three cylinders on his own when there were already 52 cylinders at the hospital on 10 August. Furthermore, he called all the adulation around him a result of all the media coverage, saying the hospital did not refer to him as a hero.
Also Read: Gorakhpur: As Families Mourn Children’s Deaths, Who’s Responsible?
However, a
Hindustan Times report also cites anonymous sources from the hospital claiming that Khan and a former principal of the medical college, Dr RK Mishra, were in-charge of ensuring a continuous supply of oxygen cylinders.
The same report claims that following preliminary investigation, Mishra and Khan were accused of being primarily responsible for the acute shortage of oxygen cylinders, causing the deaths of many children.
Moreover, the report asserts that according to their sources from the hospital, Khan was also a part of the hospital’s purchase committee and was aware of the fact that they owed a huge debt to Pushpa Sales, the Lucknow-based oxygen supplier to the company.
What we don’t know is whether or not Khan was actually responsible for payments to be made for oxygen cylinders.
Why Was Dr Khan Hailed as a ‘Hero’?
What we know: On the night of 10 August, when the oxygen supply at the BRD Medical College and Hospital was critically low, it was Khan who decided to take control of the situation by driving to private homes to borrow oxygen cylinders, reported
DNA. Khan paid Rs 10,000 to an oxygen supplier out of his own pocket, reported
CNN-News18.
As the news of Khan’s ‘heroism’ broke, social media went into overdrive, with praises for the doctor.
What we don’t know is whether Dr Khan was actually responsible for saving the lives of many children by arranging for more oxygen supply, as there hasn’t been any official validation from the hospital.
Also Read: Dr Kafeel Khan, ‘Hero’ of Gorakhpur, Removed From His Position
Kafeel Khan: Fraud or Scapegoat?
What we know: Sunday witnessed Twitterati ‘digging’ into Khan’s past.
Some Twitter users cited some old Hindi articles, alleging that Khan had been accused of rape in the past.
Also Read: Yogi Vows to Punish Guilty As Gorakhpur Death Toll Hits 64
Another Twitter user cited an
old article, which had mentioned one “Dr Kafeel Ahmed Khan, a Lucknow-based doctor,” as having impersonated someone in the National Board Exam for medical registration in 2009. Moreover, the same Twitter user claimed, citing a
legal document, that the Manipal University had suspended Dr Kafeel Khan for a criminal case against him.
However, when questioned about past charges of harassment and impersonation against him that have now suddenly surfaced, Khan was
quoted as saying:
I have no idea why past controversies are being raked up now.
Also Read: Will Get Detailed Report on Gorakhpur Deaths: UP CM Adityanath
The Twitter user who goes by the handle @WrongDoc also claims:
The hospital’s website is however, not available at the moment.
However, a snapshot of the page linked by the Twitter user can still be accessed by clicking on the
link. A quick glance reveals that indeed there is no mention of Dr Kafeel Khan in the list of faculty at the Gorakhpur hospital.
Further, Twitter users who ‘identified’ Khan’s Twitter handle as @dr_manipal, pointed out tweets by the user that were deemed as obscene.
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
(Photo Courtesy: Twitter /
Gaurav Pradhan)
Also, a trending topic on Twitter is #StandWithDrKafeel, which is being used by many Twitter users to absolve Kafeel of blame, while calling him a scapegoat.
What we don’t know is whether the Twitter account using Khan’s name is actually his. Moreover, his identity remains shrouded in mystery as it is unclear whether he indeed is Dr Kafeel Ahmad Khan of Manipal University.
The Quint has not been able to independently verify whether @dr_manipal is Khan’s Twitter handle. Moreover, it should be noted that the Twitter account under that name is no longer available. Also, even if the Twitter account going by his name is not a fake one trying to impersonate Dr Khan, it is possible that it is another Dr Kafeel Khan altogether.
Source:
https://www.thequint.com/india/2017/08/14/gorakhpur-tragedy-what-we-know-about-dr-kafeel-khan
@ranjeet So if this was all the fault of doctors, then why are police being dumping and threatening witnesses and concerned parties.
A health department source, however, alleged that Rajiv Mishra, the principal, had received "orders from Lucknow" to withhold the payment because the vendor had failed to grease palms in the government.
Some parents alleged that as soon as the oxygen supply was snapped on Wednesday evening, the government flooded the hospital with police to "terrorise" the patients' families. The cops allegedly ejected the children's relatives from the wards and, after the deaths, from the compound - in some instances, from the city itself.
Amit Singh of Deoria told
The Telegraph: "The doctors killed my daughter Pratigya, and the police forced me out of the premises."
Vijay Lal of Kushinagar told television channels: "My 16-day-old daughter died in the paediatric ward. Policemen dropped me at the railway station in an auto-rickshaw and warned me not to return. I was scared."
Source:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170813/jsp/frontpage/story_167051.jsp
@ranjeet yogi baba's government takes action on oxygen cylinder supplier while claiming the below
The state government has strenuously denied that the deaths were caused by shortage of oxygen, even though parents of the children who died say they were asked by doctors to manually pump oxygen for several hours.
Source:
https://scroll.in/pulse/847105/adit...en-payments-were-delayed-by-a-day-says-doctor
Poor state of medical infrastructure in Gorakhpur hospital was highlighted by CAG in May
Gorakhpur hospital deaths: Yogi Adityanath's visit to hospital delayed oxygen payments, says doctor
