Despite being long abandoned as a medical cure by modern science, many people in the Kashmir Valley still let leeches suck their blood in hopes of curing everything from swollen joints and headaches to frostbite and acne.
Clad in pheran, the traditional Kashmiri attire, Muzafar Hajam and his teenage son left home in the wee hours of morning carrying an earthen pot, a pack of handkerchiefs and cotton wipes.
At a marketplace in Srinagar dozens of people surrounded them as they opened their pot, taking a long, wistful look at the dozens of leeches squirming inside. For they believe these predatory worms can suck out the impure blood from a sick person’s body.
This belief is strongest on March 21 when leech-therapy practitioners set up day-long open-air “clinics” in the interior lanes of the popular Hazratbal market on the banks of the Dal Lake. Hundreds of people visited the clinics this year, showing the medieval therapy remains popular among many, despite being disregarded as a viable cure by modern medicine.
A Persian New Year tradition
Novruz, celebrated on March 21, is the Persian New Year and has a symbolic significance in this Himalayan region.
“Novruz symbolises the rebirth of nature. Hence on that day people have been getting leech therapy for ages,” Zareef Ahmad Zareef, a retired cultural officer and renowned author of various books on Kashmiri culture told Village Square. “They believe that the practice infuses new life and removes all the impurities from the body.”
Leech therapy on Novruz has been a common practice in many parts of the valley as people believe being treated on that day is more effective.
“But it hasn’t been scientifically proven that treatment on Novruz is more effective,” said Parvez, a practitioner of the Indian system of medicine.
Leech therapy is a long-practiced procedure in the Perso-Arabic traditional medicine of Unani, which is practiced in Muslim culture in South Asia as well as modern day Central Asia, according to Mehbooba Aijaz, a physician practising Unani medicine in Srinagar.
Of the 600 varieties of leeches, Hirudo medicinalis finds the widest therapeutic use.
“When the leeches feed on blood, chemical substances like hirudin, proteins and bio-active molecules from the leeches’ saliva mix with the patient’s blood,” said Aijaz. “As this thins the blood, hirudin is helpful in cardiac diseases. These substances have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticoagulant and anti-microbial functions.”
Aijaz cited research on the treatment’s efficacy, quoting a paper published in 2017, by Mustafa Guney and Erkan Ozmen, both from Turkey.
“Traditionally, leeches were used to cure frostbite, skin diseases and other blood infections,” Parvez told Village Square.
The leeches are brought from the warm climatic conditions of Uttar Pradesh. They are kept in earthen pots since it is comparatively colder in Kashmir.
The leeches are thoroughly washed and cleaned in water.
“They are kept unfed for 12 hours before use. Then they would suck the maximum volume of blood from the infectious site,” said Haji Wali Mohammad Shah, a therapist from South Kashmir’s Dooru area.
“We even make special soft wipes and cotton handkerchiefs for cleaning the blood,” said Mohammad Shah.
Muzafar Hajam, who usually treats around 500 people on Novruz, saw over a hundred people in the first three hours.
“I wait for this day every year as it satiates my conscience as well as filling my pockets,” he said. “This year I pressed my son Danish into the practice.”
Sonu Nazir, an entrepreneur from Rajbagh, suffers from frost bites during winters.
“I am undergoing this leech therapy for the third time. It’s very effective as I don’t need to take medicine now,” he said.
Zia Akhtar, a class 12 student from central Kashmir’s Ganderbal, rested her head on her mother’s lap as a bunch of blood suckers clung to her face. She was being treated for acne.
“For the last two years, I used a variety of ointments and medicines, but all in vain. With this treatment I hope to get rid of it. My friend has already been treated for the problem through leech therapy,” she said.
Even as modern doctors scoff at this practice, people like Sonu Nazir and Zia Akhtar believe in leech therapy as a cure for frostbite, joint swelling, hypertension, pigmentation, headaches and the like.
Nasir Yousufi is an independent journalist based in Srinagar.
