‘My father is dead but it’s still not too late for gutkha ban’

But not before the 38-year-old carpenter had gone public with his pain and filed a public interest litigation in the Gujarat High Court, seeking ‘‘immediate action to prevent the sale of gutkha in the market’’.

His family—his wife Jyotsana and sons Gunjan and Rushil—now wants the Gujarat Government to blaze the same trail as Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and ban gutkha.

‘‘At least some lives are being saved by a ban somewhere in the country. Why isn’t Gujarat banning gutkha as well?’’ says Jyotsana, who is now a party to the petition filed in October 2000 along with the Consumer Education and Research Society and Haresh’s doctor, Kinner Shah. The next hearing is slated for July 29.

Haresh had demanded a ban on gutkha products, disclosure by the government of reports, research studies and analysis of tobacco related products and the number of cancer patients, as well as information on the revenue earned from tobacco products. ‘‘The ban should have been declared much earlier. It could have saved many more lives,’’ says Jyotsana, who has just finished a tailoring course.

Haresh’s gutkha habit started when he was 17. He would gobble up 10-15 pouches in one day. Nobody stopped him—after all, isn’t tobacco chewing more benign than smoking? Not really, for the Indian Council for Medical Research ranks oral cancer as the fourth leading type of cancer in the country.

By August 1999, Haresh found that he couldn’t eat that easily through his mouth any more. Tests confirmed the worst: cancer of the oral cavity. By May 2000, Haresh couldn’t even open his mouth wide enough to sip water.

In the first of three operations, 70% of Haresh’s tongue had to be sliced off. He shelled out Rs 17,000 for the second one in June 2000. By now, Haresh could consume only liquid food, through a pipe.

A third surgery was later performed to insert a food pipe into his stomach, costing another Rs 5,000. And then, there was the Rs 700 spent each week on food and medicine.

In all, Rs 1.5 lakh was spent after one-and-half years of painful and futile treatment. Haresh died on the morning of January 19, 2001, his family and his doctor by his side.

‘‘It’s still not too late,’’ insists his son Gunjan, a tenth standard student. ‘‘So what if my father’s dream wasn’t realised in his lifetime? A ban will at least save others from slow and painful death.’’

Jyotsna’s father Dhanjibhai, a carpenter who trained his son-in-law in the craft, is firm that a ban should be total. ‘‘If a ban is imposed in a half-baked manner, addicts and manufacturers will find ways out to dodge it.’’

The Gujarat Health Minister repeated what Union Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha said yesterday in Bangalore: that gutkha was a vile thing but that an outright ban would be a very difficult decision.

Ashok Bhatt told The Indian Express that Gujarat was committed to banning gutkha ‘‘but not before studying the Maharashtra case’’. The state health minister said, ‘‘I have spoken to the Maharashtra chief minister. He is sending me a copy of his government’s decision. Since Gujarat and Maharashtra are adjoining states, the provisions have to be parallel.’’

It would be ‘‘difficult to impose a ban’’ in the absence of a uniform, countrywide ban, said Bhatt. The Gujarat government is also awaiting the high court ruling on Haresh’s PIL.

Na rahe baans, na baje bansuri (If there’s no bamboo, there can’t be a flute),’’ says Haresh’s younger brother, Pankaj. A B Com certificate hasn’t yielded him a job yet. ‘‘I think I will take up counselling work to dissuade gutkha addicts and save as many lives as I can,’’ he says.