The Hindu : Front Page : No word on Shravan’s condition

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Friday, May 29, 2009
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No word on Shravan’s condition

N. Rahul and D. Chandra Bhaskar Rao

— Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

BAD TIMES: T. Chidambaram, father of Shravan Kumar, in Hyderabad on Thursday, to acquire a passport for getting an Australian visa.

HYDERABAD/KHAMMAM: A dazed Tirthala Chidambaram was expecting the Australian High Commission to grant him visa on Thursday night to facilitate his travel to Melbourne at the earliest to see his critically injured son Shravan Kumar at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Shravan Kumar, a student of automobile engineering, was attacked by two youths at his tenement on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Chidambaram who was at a loss as he spoke to The Hindu in Hyderabad on Thursday said he was informed that the assailants pierced a screwdriver into the brain of his son through the right temple. Passing by an adjacent road, they stormed the house taking objection to a stereo being played at high volume.

Except Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s lip service, Mr. Chidambaram had not heard anything from the State government about assistance to Shravan. The only solace was when an official at the Australian High Commission Ms. Kriscala called him up on Wednesday to offer help. However, Mr. Chidambaram and his brother Srinivas, who is the State president of Veterinary Doctors Association, had been on the job of completing documentation to secure passports and visas much earlier. They managed to get the passports in a routine manner on Wednesday.

Mr. Chidambaram said the commission intervened after it was contacted by the CNN television channel. He added that there was no communication between him and the State or Central governments so far.

Residents of Mucherla village, some 23 km from Khammam town, were in rude shock on hearing about the incident. It is viewed as a racially motivated assault. People were stunned by the brutality of the attack.

Even four days after the incident, there was no improvement in the condition of the student. The doctors had reportedly been trying for a better diagnosis. But there was no word from the hospital for the past two days.

Mother in grief

His mother Prameela finds it difficult to control her tears while talking to visitors and media persons.

She spoke to him about a week ago. He was scheduled to return to India after completing his course in four months.

She had been repeatedly cautioning her son about the increasing racial attacks on Indians in the U.S. and other countries and wanted him to be careful. But she never expected it to come true in the case of her son.

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