The News Minute | April 1, 2015 | 2:40 p.m. IST
Sunita Tomar, the face of India’s anti-tobacco drive, reportedly passed away at her native village in Madhya Pradesh in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
Prior to her death she had been admitted to the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai after her health had worsened. She was brought to the hospital close to three days ago and doctors’ feared her cancer had relapsed.
Sunita had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, two days before her demise expressing sadness at the statement made by Dilip Gandhi on the issue of not increasing the size of pictorial warnings on cigarette packets. Gandhi, head of Parliamentary panel on subordinate legislation examining the provisions of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, said that said that there were no Indian studies to substantiate the claim that usage of tobacco could cause cancer.
Here is a translated version of Sunita's letter which was in Hindi:
Shri Narendra Modi,
Respected Prime Minister, Government of India
New Delhi
Respected Mr. Narendra Modi,
I really appreciate your work towards the development of India. I, Sunita Tomar, am a cancer patient. I had undergone an operation for cancer two years ago. I was just 26 years old then. Though the operation saved my life the cancer had totally destroyed it. My face totally changed after the operation. People hesitated when they had to meet me, or speak to me. I have faced one of tobacco’s most horrible repercussions. Tobacco has caused me physical, mental, financial and social harm. I can only consume liquid foods now. Doctors have told me that I may relapse into cancer anytime. I have strung my life together my life somehow for now.
Tobacco is so readily available that anyone can use it. It really saddens me to see small children and the youth use tobacco products. Though it is important to stop the sale of tobacco, it is very easily available in the market. It hurts me to see that there is a law that exists which regulates the sale of tobacco but it is not implemented properly. Whenever I see someone using tobacco, it terrifies me. Through the “Voice of Tobacco victims’” campaign I want to spread awareness regarding tobacco and its ill-effects. My attempt is also to save more and more people not just for using tobacco but also from the dangerous effects it has on the human body.
Recently Dilip Gandhi, head of a Parliamentary panel on subordinate legislation had written a letter to the Health Ministry asking them to delay the government’s notification to increase the size of pictorial warnings on tobacco packets. It further saddens me to see officials holding such high posts acting in such an irresponsible manner. Even today a large section of the tobacco-consuming population of our country is unaware of the Ill-effects of the substance. Illiteracy and lack of awareness are some of the major reasons for this. Pictorial warnings on tobacco products are an effective medium to spread awareness. We can save the lives of some people who may be discouraged from consumption when they see the pictorial warnings. You’re the first Prime Minister of India who not only makes an effort to forth his views to everyone but also respects the views of the citizens of the country. This is the reason why I’m writing the letter to the Prime Minister. I appreciate the fact that you spoke on radio about de-addiction and against the consumption of drugs. I hope that you will also speak about the consumption of tobacco.
I hope that you will approve the notification on pictorial warnings on tobacco products and introduce better laws which will stop the consumption of the substance and make the country ‘tobacco free’.
Thank you,
Sunita Tomar
Here is the original letter:
And this was her: