‘Sleeping partner’ of the kidney racket

Ravi Tripathi

Amidst the good news of rising GDP and zooming stock markets has burst the news of a nefarious crime ring which traded in kidneys. It reminds us of the underbelly that lies beneath the glitter of our cyber cities and branded lifestyles. Don’t just look at the statistics, look at it from the point of view of the person like Akram, a poor rickshaw puller whose kidney was stolen under pretence of removing a stone. Akram was duped with the promise of a government job and taken to Jalandhar. He was told that the job required a medical examination. He was taken to a private hospital, sedated, and while he dreamt – probably of the government job he was promised – his kidney was taken out. Apparently operating on the principle that if you pay for something you a less inclined to doubt it, the man was also made to pay a thousand bucks for the operation – he was told a stone has been removed from his body. It was only by accident that he came to know that his kidney has been removed. A nurse, who might have been suffering from prickling of conscience, told him that he should not have donated his kidney. It was then that light finally dawned on him. He lodged a complaint against the ‘Doctor’, then known as Dr Sanjay. The case files made their slow torturous way, even to the Human rights Commission, but somehow the authorities could not decide whether taking out a person’s kidney was really a bad thing. Their indecision lasted for all of 10 years (almost) during which time Akram ran to all the pillars from all the posts of the Human Rights Commission building. Akram was finally informed that the file on Dr Sanjay had been closed and the case dismissed. Perhaps they had got wind of the fact that the said Dr Sanjay, much like a snake shedding his old skin, had metamorphosed into Dr Amit. Meanwhile, the extraordinarily altruistic doctor continued to do good to people all around the world by providing them with kidneys, taken from people who were made sleeping partners in the great project, without their knowledge. His final count, officially was 500. Fortune has not been altogether unkind to the Akram. He wrote a book on his ordeal ‘Mera Sangharsh’ which was later also translated into English. His extraordinary story inspired a documentary, and he himself has turned into something of an actor. At that point of time Mira Nair, the celebrated filmmaker, had shown interest in bringing his story to the film screen. Though that did not fructify, he now has an offer from Pooja Bhatt, and he may just decide to take it. Had the authorities taken proper action in 1998 itself, then perhaps 500 people would have had their kidneys still in the right place. So who should we think responsible for the racket, just the doctor or the Human Rights Commission? To the Akrams of this world real hope actually lies in the answer to this question. Adapted by Shafey Danish