Bye Bye Brian

by Deepak Adhikari
The royal regime [Nepal], has deported a volunteer doctor who treated both the protesters and policemen alike

Tuesday afternoon, when I reached Gongabu, I saw Dr. Brian Cobb, his name inscribed in Nepali, dressed in green T-shirt, ready to treat the injured ones. This 50-year old American doctor looked like a warrior himself. I introduced myself and told him: “You are doing a great job. I want to do a story on you.” He retorted: “Ah, that’s good.” He directed me towards his station where few volunteers were ready for their mission. I asked him about his work. He said he treated more policemen than the protesters on Monday.

I asked our photojournalist Shaligram Tiwari, who was busy clicking protesters, to take his pictures. Shaligram seemed in dilemma. All of a sudden, the baton charging erupted and Brian and I were separated to our respective duties. Amid the hustle and bustle, chaos, bloodbath and anarchy, I could not see Mr. Brian. But, apparently he had been busy serving the needy people.

Brian was featured in a photo-column in Nepal Magazine by photojournalist Chandra Shekhar Karki a year ago. Recently, he was mentioned in a New York Times story.

Tuesday evening, he informed the world via Kantipur TV about SSP Madhav Thapa’s brutality. It seems that this was his sole crime. My planto meet him was thwarted by the authority who ordered him to leave the country. He was forced to pack up his mission and head for Bangladesh where he’s currently working.

According to a report published in Friday’s Kantipur Daily, he was arrested and taken to Armed Police Forces Headquarters at Halchowk. He was abused by the APF personnel. His passport was confiscated by CDO Sushil Ghimire of Kathmandu District.
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From: United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal - We Blog For Peace And Democracy In Nepal