‘He was a formidable asset’
and outsourcing wholeheartedly. I met Kailash at a rally supporting junior doctors who were on strike in 2016. He loved a rally or demonstration or political meeting to make his views known!
Kailash’s death has left a huge void in our lives. It is hard to think that we won’t see his lovely smile in person again or hear him on the phone encouraging and supporting us or offering to eat some curry with us. He will be missed by so many people, but we have our memories of this truly wonderful man, and it has been a huge privilege to know him and call him a friend. God bless you, my friend.
Jeremy Corbyn, former Labour party leader and Islington North MP Like many others, I was extremely sad to hear of the death of Kailash, who, as well as being a well-respected GP, was a true socialist, always defending our NHS.
I was fortunate to work with Kailash on a number of occasions. He was frequently in touch and sent his values and passion in everything he did. His incredible depth of knowledge and never-ending capacity for campaigning made him a formidable asset for all those engaged in working to defend the NHS.
The many tributes made by MPs, trade unions, NHS campaigning groups and others are testimony to this. Kailash came to Britain as a migrant, studied and gave his life to medicine, for all. His contribution to all our lives shows how indebted we are to all migrant workers who make such an amazing contribution to our lives. Without them our NHS would not be able to function, our health and society would be much worse.
He reached the heights of the BMA, but never played footsie with the Department of Health and a Labour government would have been the stronger for his demanding support and constructive criticism. His final tweet criticised health secretary Sajid Javid for saying people should no longer “cower” from coronavirus, pointing out that 130,000 people have so far died during the pandemic, and we must continue this important work of arguing for people and health to be put first. Kailash saw the NHS as the most civilised thing about Britain. He was right and, in his memory, we should mark his words, stepping up our campaigning to stop the ongoing privatisation of our NHS. RIP and thank you Kailash for a wonderful life of care.