Dear All,

As days go by, the sound bites related to Dharampal will vanish from our conversations and we will wake only when another life becomes victim to similar attitude. It is not new knowledge to me that the outsiders who are there in our valleys on their "punishment postings" carry colonial mentality but the extremely saddening realization is the stands that our own people at responsible positions take towards own valley and people as Ramesh Ji is indicating.

Also, the bigger pity is that despite having many members from our valley at very influential positions, common villagers are left at the whims and fancies of even a pilot of a leased helicopter. Taking a simple analogy, it is like a taxi driver whom you have paid and yet he dictates the terms whether you can sit in the taxi or not!

Further, how devastating experience could that be when one is met with such belittling treatment especially at a time one is battling for life. That way in some sense it is good for Dharampal that he is relieved of the burden to live with any further humiliation. Thinking of the conditions of many like him who are sick and without any 'contacts', I am reminded of one of Ghalib's couplets that suits to cry out the plight…

"Kahun kis se main ke kya hai, shab-e-gham buri bala hai,
Mujhe kya bura tha marna agar ek baar hota…"

We should be mindful of the fact that Dharampal had to go thru many 'deaths' before he finally died but there are many who have experienced several 'deaths' yet they are living for the time and as wrote in the last mail that if we keep the conditions same, outcomes are bound to be the same.

As Tobden Ji has suggested, to begin with we need to approach MLA and other public representatives to keep watch on this blatant inhuman practice. Then as next step, we need to reach out to population thru traditional means (face to face meetings, print media etc.) as well as modern means (online groups, blogs, email etc.) let them know of their rights and to expect nothing less than the services they are due. There is urgent need to check the growing tendency of our people to accept such discriminatory process as normal.

One more thing is to propose increase in fare to some reasonable amount to do two things: first to deter using this service for transportation of 'sabzi' and 'arak' in and out of the valley and the second to generate some extra revenue that may be contributed to the fund that we get from TSP.

As many of this group members are affiliated with government at some level which may put some constraints on direct involvement, but I am hopeful that if our conscience is clear and spirit is strong we shall find some way out to improve the situation and not let the death of Dharampal go vain!

Last thought: I don't have any idea who Dharampal was,
whoever he was, he was a
grandson of some one,
son of some one,
brother of some one,
husband of some one,
father of some one, and may be
grandfather of some one,
but I think he was not destined to leave all of them like this!

Looking forward to your thoughts,
Om mani padme hung!
AK

How long this will go on...????

Dear All,
May the soul of Dharampal of Bargul rest in eternal peace!Please chant "Om mani padme hung" as many for his after lifejourney.....

Yet another villager is dead. The life of Dharampal of Bargul villagewas cut short due to sheer administrative apathy and became yetanother number to be added to the list whose life could have beensaved. As many of you might know from the news media that manypatients like Dharampal who were referred to hospitals outside Lahoulwere pleading the authorities for running the helicopter service whenthe weather was favorable. But the service which means life or deathfor many like him have been put at the whims of people who have littleregard for the lives of our villagers.
One may not explicitly recognize the contribution of those likeDharampal who still live in the valley where large majority of us wereborn and raised, in the lives of non-resident lahoulis(NRLs) like manyof us but fact of the matter is that we have been able to embark onthe journeys that each one of us are on just because they fed enough,clothed adequate, cultured correct to be able to negotiate thevicissitudes of life in this increasingly unfair world.
Many of us basking on the course of our individual journeys tend toforget the severity of the pains that the Dharampals of our villagesface especially from the instruments of the government.
So the question here is, should we also read the news of the death ofDharampal as a data point and flip over to next page as if nothing hashappened? Or does such tragedies give us an opportunity to churnconscience and collect strength towards some action that would help atleast reduce such incidence if not eliminate avoidable DEATHS!
The case of Dharampal, though for many of us looks so remote bothphysically and mentally, but maintaining status quo is in fact aninvitation to repeat history.
Regards,
AK