Crippled Youth Congress leader awaits answers

THRISSUR: Rahul Gandhi may not know Shibu George.But Shibu had reason to be interested in Rahul distributing three-wheelers to over 200 physically challenged persons in New Delhi on Wednesday. George is a former Youth Congress district vice-president from Thrissur.It was only in 2009 that he made an entry into the physically challenged category, thanks to intra-party feud.Wheelchair-bound for more than two years and battling gruelling pain and blind neglect, George says he has been denied justice all along even after complaining to Rahul Gandhi about the trauma he has been suffering.The former Cherpu block panchayat member, Shibu, 33, now lives with his parents. His ordeal dates back to 31 January, 2009, when he was pushed down from the second floor of a multi-storied hotel in Adoor, owned by Congress veteran and (now) Health Minister Adoor Prakash, after a Youth Congress leadership camp, allegedly by his friendsturned- political foes in the Congress. The near-fatal fall from the building left a deep cut in his spine, paralysing his body chest down.“I had complained to Rahul Gandhi on October 5, 2009 about the incident. But I didn’t get any reply. In the initial days, several Congress leaders helped me financially, including Oommen Chandy and C N Balakrishnan, now the Cooperation Minister.But no one was interested in taking the matter forward legally,’’ says Shibu.Former Cherpu MLA V S Sunil Kumar (CPI) took up Shibu’s case in the state Assembly last year, prompting the then Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to forward the matter to Adoor DySP. The investigations seem to be stuck midway.“The Congress party was not much interested in going ahead with this case,’’ says Shibu. ‘’In a private complaint, I had given the police the names of six people - all office-bearers of the Youth Congress from Thrissur -- who stood behind me when I was attacked. My family is not in a position to pursue the case now.“Burgeoning hospital bills forced me to stop all legal battles and, even to some extent, treatment too,’’ he says.