Interview with Dr Sukhvinder Khaira
By Rashme Sehgal
Dr Sukhvinder Khaira is an institution in the city of Dehradun. He has built up a reputation as a leading physiotherapist and healer, who works on reviving the vital energies and physical wellbeing of his patients, even though he is visually impaired (completely blind). Dr Khaira was blinded at the instance of a leading fake `baba’ from the Punjab because he was working towards ending the criminal practice of female foeticide. Armed with an MBBS degree from Medical College Amritsar, he was leading the life of a top-notch doctor, practicing in various charitable hospitals in Jalandhar when a series of tragic incidents in his family, dramatically altered the course of his life. His elder sister, harassed by her in laws for dowry, committed suicide. Shocked by this tragic personal loss, Dr Khaira decided to work towards reversing social evils, such as female foeticide and dowry.
How did you get involved in the fight to stop female foeticide?
My elder sister was married to a rich landowning family in Nabha. She was subject to constant derisive taunts by her husband’s family over the issue of insufficient dowry. She wanted her young son and daughter admitted in a renowned school for better education to which she was mocked by her husband and in-laws. In the year 2000, at the young age of thirty, she committed suicide but, before doing so, she poisoned both her children – four-year old son and nine-year old daughter.
Their death had a huge impact on me, and I decided to work for the upliftment of women and children. At that time, the sex ratio for girls in Haryana was 550 as compared to boys, who had a sex ratio of 1000. Haryana was teaming with so called ‘babas’ who promised to ensure that women gave birth only to sons. They were hands -in-glove with certain medical scanning centres in Punjab and Haryana and they would send these gullible women for sex determination tests to these centres. In case they had conceived a female child, these centres would recommend the names of quacks to ensure they could get an abortion.
I had moved to Sant Ishar Singh Medical Institute in Pehowa, Kurukshetra, in 2002-2003 and my campaign against female foeticide brought me in direct confrontation with some of these so called ‘babas’, one of whom was Mann Singh Pehowa. I was also in contact with journalists working in local newspapers, and I would encourage them to conduct a concerted campaign against female foeticide. This brought me in confrontation with afew of these ‘Babas’ and I began to receive death threats, which I ignored.
On 18 April 2007, I was in the OPD treating patients in SIS Hospital, Pehowa, when a man entered wearing a thick sweater. He had covered his face to hide his identity. Sometimes patients from nearby villages, suffering from skin allergies, came to the OPD with their faces covered and wearing such clothes. The man took out a bottle full of acid and threw it at me. I was completely taken aback! Fortunately, the acid did not fall on my face. Within minutes, two other men, faces covered, joined him. This time the acid was thrown on my face and arms and they used a knife to cut my radial and ulnar arteries of the left hand that supply blood to the arm. I also received serious injuries on the right foot.
The entire operation was so well planned that when I rushed to the nearest tap to wash the acid off my face and arms, I found it had no water. I was told later that the water supply had been cut off.
I was bleeding and blinded and the doctors took a decision to rush me to the PGI hospital in Chandigarh for treatment, where I remained under treatment for several months.
That must have been a very difficult period for you?
It was! I felt my life had ended. My face and arm had to heal, then skin had to be grafted on my burnt body parts which were about 45 percent affected. But this was not the end of my problems. The people who attacked me were determined to intimidate me further and on the night of 24 May 2007, just a month after the acid attack, they set fire to my house in Jalandhar, which happened to be located very close to Mann Singh Pehowa’s ashram in Jalandhar.
Following this attack, my entire family comprising my mother, my wife and two sons and myself, were extremely terrified and we decided to go underground. I subsequently learnt that Mann Singh Pehowa was close to several leading active politicians of Punjab. I also filed an application in the Chandigarh High Court seeking protection in 2009. Initially, little attention was paid to my request but, by a stroke of luck, the court retainer who was handling my case got my number mixed up with that of Mann Singh Pehowa and over the course of a phone call, came out in support of him and spoke against me. Our conversation was being recorded and when this evidence was presented before the court, I was placed under police protection.
Following this attack, I went into a state of acute depression. I had lost my ability to practice as a doctor or even lead a normal life. My family continued to face death threats, and the future looked extremely dark for all of us. Then, someone informed me about the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped located in Dehradun, where they teach blind people how to adjust to their situation and are trained to cook their own food, wash and iron clothes, and also learn different word related skills including assistive technology whereby they use computers and laptops. Some of the teachers at the NIVH turned out to be excellent, including Army Captain Dwarkesh and Mohammed Khalid, both of whom were blind, but they motivated me to refocus my life to my changed circumstances.
The NIVH, in agreement with Japan’s Tsukube University, was facilitating an important project in Ahmedabad, which taught blind people alternate therapies such as acupuncture and acupressure under six master trainers who were all blind. In January 2014, I started teaching blind children Japanese Medical Manual Therapy in Dehradun at NIVH. One year later, I went to Japan to receive further training, under the blind master Dr Saburo Sasada. I learnt from the Japanese that one should never accept defeat in life. I returned to Dehradun, where continued to teach blind children and also started my own private health care centre.
But because I refused to withdraw my case against Mann Singh Pehowa, they orchestrated a theft in my house in Jalandhar. Finally, my family decided to sell the house and shift to another part of the city.
What finally happened vis a vis your case against Mann Singh Pehowa and his sidekicks?
The case against Mann Singh continues. It turned out that there were 17 men involved in that acid attack. I received a lot of sympathetic coverage in the western media and the acid attack on me made headlines in countries such as Canada, US and Australia. As a result, when Mann Singh travelled to these countries he received an extremely hostile reception. He suffered a paralytic stroke and died on 8 April 2023.
I now work on reviving the vital energy of my patients. For me, Physiotherapy and Japanese Medical Manual Therapy as a healing practice, is a means to help my patients get relief from pain and feel vitalised. I have reconciled with my present situation. It was not easy, but I feel blessed to have overcome the disability. I am working with a wide section of patients who have developed immense confidence in me. My patients keep coming back for more treatments and refer my expertise to many more. My younger son visually assists me in my health care centre. My elder son is an MBBS and is practising in Jalandhar. Our life has reached an even keel, and it is the attackers who have paid for their black deeds against me.
