Besides food, Hazare skipped his medicines; now battling joint pain

Anna Hazare not only skipped food during his 97-hour hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, he also skipped his medicines. And this meant that he quietly battled pain in his joints during his 97-hour fast.

The social activist is a chronic patient of osteoarthritis and has been undergoing treatment from Pune-based orthopaedic surgeon Dr Parag Sancheti. “Anna is my patient for the past five years. He is on daily medication. However, during his agitation, he did not take medicines to avoid the pain in his joints. This has aggravated his condition,” Dr Sancheti told DNA. “He spoke to me and complained of severe knee pain during the agitation.” The activist will be taken to Sancheti hospital for treatment on his return to Pune. “We will have to examine him before taking a decision about his treatment,” Dr Sancheti said.

Noted RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar, who knows Hazare well, said the activist has been suffering from a back problem for the past few years. “Anna has to undergo traction regularly to get relief from back pain. Many times, he was forced to leave his programmes midway due to acute pain in the joints and back. The fast must have taken a toll on his fragile health,” he said.

Vinita Deshmukh, convener of the Right to Information Forum for Instant Information, admired the activist’s commitment. “He must have been under tremendous pressure as the entire nation was looking up to him,” she said.