Student Leader Atikur Rahman Admitted To Hospital, Kin Say Condition Serious, Online Petition Seeks President’s Intervention

Student leader and activist Atikur Rahman, who was arrested along with journalist Siddique Kappan last year, is in hospital for the last four days. He suffers from a serious heart condition and his family says he needs immediate surgical intervention.

“For the past 10 months, Atik has not received any treatment for his condition or had access to the permanent medications that he has been consuming since childhood,” Atik’s brother Mateen told The Cognate.

Lawyers had moved a plea seeking 60 days parole for him in June to get his surgery at AIIMS but it was rejected by a Mathura court.

“We filed an application multiple times before Mathura ADJ for proper medical treatment. But they were so far rejected,” his lawyer Saifan Shaikh told The Cognate. 

“We have approached the Allahabad High Court and the matter is yet to be listed. But his condition has worsened. He’s at the jail hospital. The medical facilities there are not adequate for his condition, he is not treated for heart, he is given just pain killers,” he says.

However, Mathura jail authorities have said he was admitted due to a “seasonal fever”, reported TOI.

Atik suffers from Aortic regurgitation- a cardiac problem that develops when the aortic valve in the heart does not shut securely enough. Heart failure is the most dangerous consequence that might occur as a result of this condition. He had previously visited hospitals in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Aligarh, and AIIMS in Delhi, seeking treatment for this condition. 

“A month before his arrest, an AIIMS doctor had advised him to have a Bentall procedure to replace his aortic valve. That’s why we filed a plea for him to be released on interim bail for 60 days so he could get the surgery done,” Mateen says.

Twenty-seven-year-old Rahman, a PhD scholar who has been associated with Campus Front of India, a student organisation, was arrested last year by Uttar Pradesh Police while on way to Hathras along with Journalist Siddique Kappan, Masood Ahmed and cab driver Alam. They all have maintained their innocence and clarified that they were on their way as journalists to report on the matter or as activists to express their solidarity with the bereaved family.

The UP government invoked a stringent anti-terror law UAPA against them. Atik’s interim bail plea was also rejected in June 2021. 

An online petition titled ‘Atikur Rahman – another Stan Swamy in the making!’ addressed to the President of India has been started which expresses concern regarding his deteriorating health condition. The petition believes that Rahman is “falsely implicated” and appeals to the president to facilitate bail for medical treatment.

Human rights group NCHRO also warned about his deteriorating health. “We witnessed the passing away of Father Stan Swamy in custody. Now, Atikur Rahman, a student leader suffering from a serious heart condition and facing negligence even in the midst of a life-threatening disease, reveals the failure of our democratic society as well as the rule of law,” said the NCHRO in a statement, demanding his immediate release.