Bengaluru: Is Pakistan playing spoiler in refusing to clear the paperwork that would allow National Geographic’s famous “Afghan Girl” Sharbat Gula from coming to Bengaluru for treatment?
News of Dr Devi Shetty agreeing to treat the green-eyed Sharbat free of cost moved the Afghan embassy into hailing the hospital’s gesture with a tweet that reads, “Touched by Narayana, hospital in Bangalore offering the iconic Sharbat Gula free of cost treatment and hospitality for Hepatitis-C.”
But, the city-based Narayana Health City is sill waiting to receive her medical documents from the Afghan Embassy. With India coming into the picture and offering hope to the Afghan refugee, sources stress that Pakistan has thrown a spanner in the works, by not providing her medical documents to the embassy which would then send it to the hospital authorities.
“No news yet. We are still waiting for her medical records by the embassy who have informed us that even they are awaiting the same. It is very sad that when India has reached out to help Sharbat, the country (Pakistan) is having so many reservations. They just don’t want India to get good press abroad. This whole Sharbat Gula issue has anyway got them a bad reputation and in no way, do they would want India to get that kind of good reputation. It is as simple as that. But let us see,” says a highly placed source with the hospital, who said that once the Afghan mission in Delhi receives her papers and sends it to the hospital, it would not take more than a week for Sharbat to reach the city and start treatment.
