Thaindian News

New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS) Relatives of the Delhi High Court blast victims at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital are “very angry” with VIPs who thronged the venue Wednesday. “Politicians, keep off!” seems to be their message.

Vinod Bakshi’s 34-year-old brother, Mridul, is battling for life in the ICU. Vijay Kumar’s 26-year-old son, Vinay, is being treated for shrapnel injuries. Both strongly agree that there should be no VIP movement in hospitals in the first 12 hours of such emergencies.

“VIP visits bring unnecessary pressure on the hospital staff,” said Vijay Kumar.

Bakshi agreed: “Instead of giving care to the patients, they are expected to ‘attend’ to the politicians. The VIPs are more concerned about their publicity and use the opportunity to blame each other. This does not help the common man.”

Barring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who personally met the blast victims and their relatives Wednesday night, the likes of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Home Minister P. Chidambaram failed to meet blast victims or their kin. The terror strike has killed 12 people and left 96 injured.

While they expresed anger against the VIPs, the relatives of the blast victims had words of praise for the RML staff: “They have been giving their best.”

Vinod said, following instructions from the prime minister, he was receiving hourly briefings on the condition of his brother.

Harishankar, whose brother Radhey Shyam, 60, is undergoing treatment, said: “I would not have been able to afford such expensive medicines.”

He too felt VIP movement “affected” medical attention in the initial few hours.

Every bit an example of grit, Radhey Shyam, who lost his left leg below the knee, is still shocked after the blast. “I somehow managed to pick up my lower leg which had blown away. It was total chaos at Gate 5 with blood splattered all around me. The police took me to the hospital,” he told IANS.