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Sahaita in Sultanpuri
Jagmohan Singh 

SULTANPURI, NEW DELHI: The tragedy of Sultanpuri of November 1984 needed more than commemoration. It needed attention. It needed love, care and compassion. Sahaita from the US in association with Sikhs Helping Sikhs and Akhar SOH provided the same last week when doctors converged on the ghetto. In the classrooms of the Sun Smile Public School, converted into part-time dispensary, for full two days, took care of nearly 750 individuals –men, women and children, young and old.  

Coming on the heels of two weeks of caring for patients during which Sahaita held 7 one day camps and 2 camps of 2 days each, treating more than 6,000 patients from nearly 325 villages across Punjab.  At Machhiwara, the team did 200 plus surgeries.  At the Bal Bhavan facility in Ludhiana, all the year round, on a continuous basis, Sahaita takes care of the personal and educational needs of the near 186 inhabitants there. 

Under the loving hands of Dr. Harkesh Singh Sandhu, who cares like a prophet with humanism pouring from every pore of his being, making no distinction of caste, colour or religion, the team of American doctors, assisted by doctors from Ludhiana and Delhi, helped identify routine health problems and more than the medicine which was given free, the systematic counseling and guidance of each client (not patient) will be remembered for a long time to come. 

A fatigued Dr. Sandhu with his never say die spirit, at the end of it all said, “It was a blessed opportunity to serve these people, whom the Sikhs do not consider Sikhs and Hindus consider them as Sikhs so they suffer. I wish everybody saw humans in all of them.” 

Dr. Mary from Utah, who also had a degree in anthropology, was keen to know more about the Sikligar Sikhs and what they went through in November 1984 and in between checking patients, lent a patient ear to know more and more. Doing a tour of the lanes in which the poorest of the poor Sikhs live, Dr. Dixon   said, “the situation here explains the common nature of the ailments of most of the victims.” 

Dr. Lawrence Dixon, Dr. Maria Fruin, Dr. Mary Olrourke, Dr. Teresa Walker, Dr. Pegah Dixon from the United States, Dr. Rajinder Singh, Dr. Swaroop Singh, Dr. Jeet provided the healing touch. They were ably assisted by health activist Garima Kaur from Hyderabad, Sikhs Helping Sikhs activist Kulbir Singh and his son, Akhar SOH activists Sukhdev Singh from Chandigarh and Tarif Singh, Parmeet Singh and Muqaddar Singh from Alwar. 

Post-Sultanpuri medical camp, Dr. Sandhu sent these sentiments through email, “Ever since we came back I keep thinking about the kids at Sultanpuri. How many of them go to school? How many can go to school? How can we do continuous medical care of the boys and girls and particularly women? How about a vocational rehabilitation centre? 

The time to do all this today, if we wait till tomorrow we may lose another Satinder Pal Singh (name changed) to drugs as we found this 12 year old entrenched in drugs and his mother weeping and urging us to take care. The night vigil for change must happen before the next dawn.

18 November  2009
 

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