April 15, 2021
Farmers sitting in protest against the farm laws at the Singhu border, in New Delhi - Sushil Kumar Verma
Farmers sitting in protest against the farm laws at the Singhu border, in New Delhi - Sushil Kumar Verma×
‘If the government wants to adopt a humanitarian approach, they should provide free vaccination in Tikri, Singhu’ Even as Delhi is facing an extraordinary surge in Covid-19 cases, farmers protesting at the Singhu and Tikri borders say they follow stringent social distancing norms, have set up vaccination facilities at the protest sites and are urging governments in Haryana and Punjab to initiate vaccine drives.
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An American doctor went to India last year to care for protesting farmers. The conditions on the ground convinced him to stay
Updated 7:40 PM ET, Sat March 13, 2021
Dr. Swaiman Singh, a cardiologist from the US, put his career on hold to come provide free medical services to farmers protesting in India. (CNN)When Dr. Swaiman Singh boarded a flight to India last December, he thought he would be there for a week, tops.
Back home in New Jersey, life for the 34-year-old was literally perfect.
His career was taking off, with just a few months left in a three-year cardiology fellowship at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and another prestigious opportunity lined up after that. He was a husband to a similarly ambitious wife and a father to a two-year-old daughter. He had the support of his parents and sister, who lived just a short car ride away.
Cardiologist Swaiman Singh came from the US to volunteer for medical aid at the farmers’ protest right when it began. Nothing had prepared him for the scaremongering and police highhandedness he experienced while treating patients, including policemen, during the tractor rally on Republic Day.
He doesn’t understand why he and his team of medical personnel got beaten up by the police ironically, they spent several hours treating injured cops why he saw no government ambulances despite the size of the event, or why some people spread rumours of violence and confusion about the routes through the day, aggravating matters.
An American doctor has told how he and his team were brutally beaten by police as they tried to tend to those injured in violent clashes during protests against farming reforms in India.
Dr Swaiman Singh from New Jersey said they were set upon by stick-wielding officers - leaving three doctors with broken arms and a volunteer with a cracked skull.
In disturbing footage of the attack one of the medics in a first aid high visibility vest is chased by officers in full riot gear before being viciously battered as he falls to the floor.
Horrified onlookers can be heard screaming Don t hit the doctors as they watch batons rain down on the men.