Bashir Assad
SRINAGAR, May 10: A day after a businessman from down town Srinagar decided to donate his organs after death, former militant commander and political secretary to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shahid-ul-Islam has served a notice on Director SKIMS for concealing information.
Shaid through his counsel today served a legal notice on Director SKIMS, Dr. Shawkat Ahmad Zarger accusing him of concealing the facts about the first person who has offered to donate his organs after death.
Shahid has claimed that he offered his organs on March 9 this year, while as the report quoting Dr Zargar say that the first person offered the organ donation on April 16.
"On March 9, 2014, a seminar conducted in SKIMS titled 'Cadaveric Transplantation: Need of the Hour' a number of Medical and Religious Scholars participated… Whereas it had been unanimously decided that even under Islamic Shariah, the donation of human organs is permitted," reads the notice.
Shahid claimed that Dr Saleem Wani, who heads the Urology department, during the seminar, announced his name as the first human organ donor in Jammu and Kashmir. The seminar was attended by over 500 people, and Islam's lawyer in the notice noted that Islam 'received appreciation from the participants'.
He accused Director SKIMS of acting 'under political influence'. News reports had said that in a first Showkat Ahmad Zarabi of Botshah mohalla has registered for organ donation at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences here.
On March 29, a group of medicos and religious scholars concluded in a seminar here that organ donation was allowed in Islam and that the facility needed to be promoted in Kashmir.
In the seminar, titled 'Cadaveric Transplantation: Need of the Hour,' healthcare experts noted that "every year around 4000 to 5000 patients need kidney or liver transplantation, but less than three percent of them get the transplant done."
They noted that there was lot of disparity between the demand and availability of donors. Earlier, experts said flawed legislation, lack of infrastructure and accountability in Government hospitals were some major hurdles in introduction of landmark facility of organ transplantation in J&K.
Also, the Jammu and Kashmir Transplantation of Human Organs Act-1997 is not being implemented properly by the state Government. The Act, experts had said, was just on papers. |
