Survivor recalls her meeting with Chhapaak protagonist

Deepkamal

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 10

Widowed at the age of 24, she was subjected to acid attack at 25, resulting in loss of hearing in the left ear, underwent multiple surgeries, resumed studies and remarried five years ago.

Dr Sunita Sharma (now 43) is now settled in Balachaur town of Nawanshahr. She is looking forward to watching Deepika Padukone-starrer ‘Chhapaak. “I met Laxmi Agarwal, on whom the film is based, at a book release function in Bangalore eight years ago, organised by the association of acid attack victims. We (the victims) were together for a week. The solidarity we struck helped me carry on my life with even greater determination”, she says.

Working with a private hospital after postgraduation in hospital administration from the UK, Dr Sunita says, “When the District Social Security Officer (DSSO) told me about the invite from the state government to watch the movie in a Zirakpur theatre, he asked me whom I wanted to take along. I chose my lawyer and best friend Veena Sharma, who helped me fight the attackers. My past five years have been blissful. My husband understands the pain I have been through.”

Even though there have been at least five incidents of acid attack in the past eight years, Jalandhar DSSO Varinder Bains says none of these are are listed with his department as “no such information was passed on to us by the police.” It is perhaps for this reason that a 2013 acid attack survivor, Jatinder Kaur (56) of Jalandhar, has not been invited to the movie. Nor is she getting any monthly support from the government.

“I was given a one-time relief of Rs 3 lakh in 2016 for the expenditure incurred on surgeries. The biggest trauma for me is that I do not know who the accused were and why they threw acid on me, a month before my son’s wedding. We could not pursue the case owing to the wedding and my treatment.” Kaur’s left side of the face, including the left eye and ear, are partially damaged. “I will definitely watch Chhapaak in a theatre in Jalandhar,” she says.

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J&K sends proposal on domicile certificate to GoI

BLURB: Will be on the pattern of Himachal Pradesh

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Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 10

Jammu and Kashmir has sent a proposal to the Government of India (GoI) to finalise modalities for issuing domicile certificates to residents of the newly carved out Union Territory on the pattern of neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, highly placed sources in the government told The Tribune.

To protect the interests of J&K residents with regard to jobs and land, which had been the exclusive right of the people when Article 370 was in place, the J&K Government has decided to consider the proposal, “recommending a cap of 15 years of residency,” the sources said.

The Tribune in its report on December 6 had said the government had decided to issue domicile certificate to locals, also mentioning the proposed 15-year cap. Earlier, the GoI had told a delegation of BJP leaders that it was mulling such an initiative. Now, after taking the Valley-based leadership into confidence, a formal proposal in this regard has been sent by the J&K authorities to the GoI.

Sources said the proposal was in response to the memorandum submitted to the Lieut Governor by the Altaf Bukhari-led group, mentioning: “This most important issue can be addressed by tangible legal and constitutional safeguards that can be put in place by virtue of which protection of domicile rights, including that of reservation for permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir in the matter of employment and that of admission to professional courses, is ensured.

“A blend of models like Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and parts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh can provide a solution to protection of these rights of the People of Jammu and Kashmir.”