India’s forgotten lepers have been quarantined all their lives
- Ghulam Mohammad Dar has spent 40 years living in the Bahar-Aar Sanatorium, a leprosy colony in Kashmir
- Despite medical advances in the treatment of leprosy, patients still endure the social stigma associated with the disease
Dar grew up in a village in Manasbal, about 65km from Srinagar in Indian Kashmir. He was a child when his parents first noticed his limbs becoming deformed. In the summer, Dar’s skin would appear bruised or chafed before healing in the winter.
“It was only when a local faith healer came to check on me that he informed us it was a proper disease called leprosy,” Dar said. “And unfortunately, at that time, it had no cure.”
At age 11, he was permanently admitted to the Bahar-Aar Sanatorium, a leprosy colony in Kashmir, one of about 800 in India.
“The worst part was that it was contagious, meaning other people who were living around me were at risk as well,” he said. “The elders of the village decided right away that I should be sent to a leprosy hospital – and since then, this place has been my home.”
