Muslims Seek Answers on Gujarat Turning Into COVID19 Hotspot

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Rajeev Khanna | India Tomorrow

AHMEDABAD, MAY 3—Having borne the brunt of a high pitch vilification campaign on COVID19 outbreak in the state that is often referred to as ‘Laboratory of Hindutva’, the Muslims in Gujarat are now seeking answers from the state government for the spread of religious intolerance at the time of pandemic. There is a demand for a “White Paper” on the preparation of the pandemic by the state government that would make it clear as to who is responsible for the spread of Corona in Gujarat.

The state is now among the top ranked in terms of number of cases reported and deaths because of the disease. By the time of filing this report on Friday evening, the number of confirmed positive cases was 4395 and there had been 214 deaths in the state.

The health experts are now battling the pandemic with state of art facilities with efficient backing coming from the municipal bodies and the administration. It is being stated that the high number of patients as well as the dead is because of the government scaling up the testing in a big way. The co-morbidities are also being held responsible for majority of the deaths.

But the moot question remains as to how Gujarat, which is often projected as a model state, became a hotspot.

Sources on the ground say that while there was an effort from various corners to put the blame entirely on those who had returned after attending a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in New Delhi last month, many other factors were just perhaps ‘over looked’.

“There were a whole lot of people who had returned after Umrah prior to the lockdown and there were celebratory feasts welcoming them at the houses of these people which was overlooked. At the same time, the footfall in the temples across the state remained heavy till the ‘Janata Curfew’ and subsequent lock down. Nobody bothered to check this. Then while the stress was on screening people coming from abroad, the visitors to the state from places like Indore, New Delhi and Mumbai who often come for business purposes, were over looked,” pointed a source in Ahmedabad.

Questions are also being raised now about the visitors who had come for the ‘Namaste Trump’ event at Motera Stadium towards the end of February.

Mujahid Nafees who is the convener of Minority Co-ordination Committee (Gujarat) has in a letter to the Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated, “On January 30, COVID19 was declared a public health emergency of International concern by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is apparent that the state government, in utter disregard of the health emergency declared by the WHO, lost a crucial month in not preparing for an imminent pandemic, even as it splurged all available state resources in organizing ‘Namaste Trump’ event on February 24 in Ahmedabad.”

The letter further states, “It is shocking that the state government endangered everyone’s life by organizing ‘Namaste Trump’ event and congregating over one lakh people despite knowing that USA had already reported existence of COVID19 cases as far back as January 20. The most important question that needs to be answered is whether the state government has tested the participants of this event? It is well known that in relation to the ‘Namaste Trump’ event a contingent of American officials, security personnel, vehicles and dogs had travelled all over the city of Ahmedabad.”

It is being stated that the first two cases in Gujarat were reported on March 19 from Surat and Rajkot and subsequently five other cases were reported the next day and all were foreign returnees.

Muslims and other social activists have been stating that the government should have been informing the public of its preparedness instead of spreading ‘lies’ in the name of Tablighis.

There was a furore recently when reports appeared in some of the leading dailies about segregation of wards in Ahmedabad’s Civil Hospital on the basis of the religion of the patients. This was roundly denied by the authorities.

There is another interesting aspect that points to the disastrous outcome in such distressing times when there has been little or no effort to bridge the communal divide that has been growing for decades. Many people on the ground point out that the Muslims in some of the localities initially refused to co-operate with the health authorities because there had been rumours that were spread conveying that it was the National Registration of Citizens (NRC) exercise being carried out in the garb of Corona virus testing and surveys.

“The vilification of the entire community by holding Tablighis responsible for the spread of the Corona virus led to a situation where people preferred going to local dispensaries instead of the hospitals for tests. Even today people are sarcastically talking in terms of the pandemic getting over along with Ramzan,” said a resident of Shah Alam area of Ahmedabad.

The major hotspots in Ahmedabad, the city that is leading in terms of cases reported and deaths, are densely populated and highly congested localities in the Walled City like Khadia, Raikhad, Jamalpur, Shahpur and Dariapur along with others like Dani Limda and Behrampura. It needs to be pointed out that a large number of Muslim and Dalit population resides in these areas. Concepts like social distancing cannot be observed here. These areas stand sealed as a part of cluster containment strategy.

Nafees in his letter has asked Rupani to make public the names of everyone, including those holding diplomatic exemption, that have entered Gujarat from abroad between January 30 till the day the last international flight entered the state.

“I feel confident that keeping in mind your pledge to protect the Constitution, you shall take such steps that shall strengthen the social fabric of the state and encourage us to fight and defeat this together,” he said.

Meanwhile, in what is being interpreted as a ‘goodwill gesture’ towards the targeted community, there are reports about authorities serving ‘Sehri’ and ‘Iftar’ meals to Muslim Corona virus patients lodged in different hospitals and facilities who have been resolute about fasting during Ramzan.

There are many patients who are determined to observe Rozas even as medical experts have been advising against fasting for as long as 14 hours as there are chances of a prolonging of their recovery from the infection. Experts say that fasting for so long in their condition can lead to dehydration, hypo-glycemia and vomiting.

Sources say that while they are being served bun, bread, butter, eggs and milk for Sehri, the ‘Iftar’ menu comprises dates, fruits and milk. Those fasting are allowed to offer prayers in their wards while observing the social distancing norms.

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