Today, the locals heaved a sigh of relief, though a bit belatedly. “I am somewhat happy that the death of my son has given the town this much-needed hospital,” said Shafiq Mohammed Salim, who lost his 18-year-old son and 17-year-old nephew in the 2006 blasts and had raised his voice when Gandhi had come visiting then. “If we had not staged such an open protest at the time of her last visit, we would not have seen this day.”

Obviously aware of the communal lines dividing the town, Gandhi made repeated references to the need for peace and communal harmony for development but refrained from going too much into the past, apparently avoiding reopening old wounds.

“The last time I came here, it was a time which tested our integrity, we were saddened as the city had been hit by communal violence,” she said in her speech. “Our belief is that we keep divisions aside and stand together for the development of the country.”

Local Congressmen hope that the new hospital will help foster that ambition. The new hospital is built on a four-acre plot on what used to be an open space along the Mausam river. Although it is on the “Hindu side” of the river, it is right on the banks and is also served by a new bridge that links it easily to the Muslim pockets on the other side.

It is also one of the largest hospitals in the region with a swank structure, airy interiors, labeled rooms and planned space management. It will offer services in fourteen branches such as paediatrics, surgery, gynaecology, dentistry, psychiatry, dermatology, besides having physicians.

... contd.