On 15 April, a PDF attachment popped up in a journalists’ WhatsApp group that I am part of. Initially, I didn’t pay much attention to it but when comments like ‘so sad’, ‘this is unacceptable’, started appearing in the reply trail, I opened the document.
It was an open letter written by Arthur Wungthingthing. son-in-law of Dr John L Sailo Ryntathiang, the director of Bethany Hospital in Shillong. Dr Sailo was Meghalaya’s first COVID-19 patient, who passed away on 15 April.
The note by Arthur was more of a message written in desperation, to tell the world what he and his family were going through since Dr Sailo tested positive. Eight family members have also tested positive since then.
“It has been 12 hours since my father-in-law passed away, silently. My wife just lost her father. We do not know whether his cremation is over. We were not there to weep besides his body.”Arthur Wungthingthing, Dr Sailo’s son-in-law
Arthur, who’s a pilot working with Air India, had flown back from the US on 14 March. Before returning to Shillong, on 24 March, he was in Delhi 20 March onwards. So, he’s also being looked upon as a potential carrier of the novel coronavirus. But, he has been tested twice since and the results have come back negative both times.
Dr Sailo was a medical officer at the North-Eastern Hill University before he opened his own clinic in 1991.
His two hospitals in Meghalaya fill up an important void in the state, where healthcare facilities are woefully insufficient, to meet the needs of its entire population.
But, in death, Dr Sailo, one of Meghalaya's most popular doctors, was denied a final resting place by the very people he may have treated.
The Government of Meghalaya made arrangements for his cremation in Jhalupara area of Shillong on 15 April itself. It was to be performed as per the WHO and Government of India guidelines.
To honour his family’s wishes, the government had planned to put his ashes in a coffin and bury it in his farmhouse, in Ri Bhoi District.
But this is what transpired.
Things got completely out of control, on 15 April, when hundreds of people came out onto the streets of Jhalupara, completely disregarding the social distancing and lockdown rules.
The residents blocked the road leading to the crematorium, fearing it posed a health hazard in the overcrowded locality.
Even the head of the Executive Committee of Nongpoh Dorbar Shnong didn’t allow the burial of Dr Sailo’s body or ashes in his farm house.
“Firstly, the local traditional body claims it was not informed that the cremation would happen there. Secondly, the place should have been sanitised. Now, a veritable blame game is going on with those in charge of the crematorium, saying the undertakers were not provided PPE suits and the local authorities were not informed. Since the crematorium is on government land and is a government funded project, should the government have to seek permission from an extra constitutional authority for the burial to happen? There are thorny issues that have been the bane of governance with too many people, traditional and constitutional (bodies) asserting their authority.”Patricia Mukhim, Editor-in-Chief, Shillong Times
Finally, on 16 April, two days after his death, in the presence of three distant relatives and the state administration, Dr Sailo found a final resting place at Riatsamthiah Presbyterian Church cemetery, Lawmali.
The irony is that, on Easter Sunday, people of Meghalaya joined the state government in praying for peace, and saluting the healthcare officials who were at the forefront of this fight against coronavirus.
But, in a matter of 24 hours, these very people forgot that prayer. On social media, they vilified and abused the late doctor and his family for getting coronavirus into the state, as if they were criminals.
The prayers, the beating of ‘thalis’ or lighting of ‘diyas’ means nothing, when you deny a healthcare professional who served the state for more than four decades a final resting place.
Perhaps with the passage of time, the late doctor's family will forgive them. But this ugly chapter in Meghalaya’s fight against coronavirus will never be forgotten.
Knowing how kind-hearted Bah Sailo was, he would have smiled and said, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.”
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