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Gujarat doctor offers to treat Osama

Vikram Vakil in Ahmedabad

A sleuth from the Central Bureau of Investigation was at Dr Hargovind Trivedi's doorstep recently, because he agreed to a bizarre proposal from friend and associate Madhubhai Shah, to offer to conduct a kidney transplant operation on fugitive Osama Bin Laden.

According to Dr Trivedi, who runs a government-funded kidney hospital in the compound of the city civil hospital in Ahmedabad, the CBI officer informed him that the Central Intelligence Agency had requested the Bureau to probe his connections with bin Laden.

Trivedi's 250-bed hospital is in the red because kidney transplants are expensive and the hospital treats mostly poor patients.

Shah, a 56-year-old cloth merchant, told rediff.com, "The Gujarat government is not a big help to us. We are tired of fund-raising exercises. When I read that Osama was on dialysis, I thought of offering him Dr Trivedi's services and have him agree to a kidney transplant.''

The doctor, he said, was a little hesitant, and asked, "How shall we arrange for an operation when we are unaware of his whereabouts?"

But Shah decided to track down the fugitive, who reportedly lives in Afghanistan.

Shah said the doctor agreed after "I assured Trivedi that if his operation succeeded, he will gain a name in the Muslim world for saving Osama's life despite being a Hindu!"

''We knew that Hindus would be upset but we thought about how our financial worries would end," Shah added.

The merchant says he has traveled to the US 10 times and Paris 17 times besides Zurich, Geneva, London and Toronto. He lives at Satyagrah Chavni, an upmarket area in Ahmedabad. His visiting card says he is the Gujarat-based correspondent of International Digest of News and Information of New York. He also claims to be an 'information security and fraud control and strategic direction and risk management consultant'. Besides, he says he is a member of the International Airlines Passengers Association.

Once Dr Trivedi agreed, the search for bin Laden began.

When a colleague in London informed him that information on the most wanted man in the world could be obtained from Mulla Mohammad Umar, the head of the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan, Shah wrote to the cleric.

Shah also called up Fazlurahman Fazil, deputy chef de mission, Afghanistan, who sought information on bin Laden. As requested, Shah sent his bio-data, Dr Trivedi's resume and other material.

Shah said the Afghan embassy, which is aligned with the rival Burhanuddin Rabani regime, wrote back, 'Thank you, there is no need to help a terrorist like Osama. Instead, the doctor should help poor patients. His sickness is a publicity stunt to mislead people'.

Dr Trivedi told rediff.com, "I thought that before operating on him I would secure an assurance that he would not help terrorists in Kashmir.''

He asked, "Why should we believe that Osama's sickness is a publicity stunt? I am still hopeful."

For the present, Dr Trivedi is back at work, while Shah is awaiting a reply from Afghanistan's diplomats.

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