India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, APRIL 11— Two days after the Delhi Minorities Commission asked the Delhi government to drop any mention of religious undertones in its daily bulletins on Coronavirus cases, the Arvind Kejriwal government on Saturday stopped mentioning ‘Markaz’ (Tablighi Markaz) in its daily update bulletin.
The city government had started naming Markaz in its health bulletin from March 31 when over 2,000 people were evacuated from the grand mosque, known as Tablighi Markaz, in Nizamuddin area and hundreds of them were later found to be infected with Coronavirus.
March 31 Health Bulletin of Delhi Govt:
New positive cases – 23
Total positive cases – 120
Foreign travel cases – 49
Contacts history – 29
Markaz Masjid – 24
Under investigation – 18
Discharged/migrated – 06
Death – 02
The mention of Markaz word in the daily health bulletin continued till April 10.
April 10 Health Bulletin of Delhi Govt:
Total positive cases – 903
New positive cases (on April 10) – 183
Discharged/migrated – 27
Deaths – 14
Sources of cases:
Foreign travel history/contact history- 269
Markaz Related – 584
Under investigation – 50
Following the Nizamuddin tragedy and mention by central and state governments of Markaz in their press briefings and bulletins, a section of media and right-wing people active on social media had launched aggressive hate campaign against the minority community over the issue. The hate campaign led to several incidents of attack on members of the minority community in different parts of the country.
Taking note of the issue, the Delhi Minorities Commission wrote a letter to the Director/Secretary, Delhi Health Department on April 9 and asked it to drop any mention of religious undertones in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases in Delhi.
DMC Chairman Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan said in his letter: “Your bulletins of Coronavirus victims are showing a separate column ‘Markaz Masjid’. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda of the lap media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country. As a result, Muslims are being attacked in various areas, calls are being made for their social boycott, one boy has been lynched in the North-West Delhi village of Harewali, others attacked.”
Dr Khan also reminded the department about the WHO direction against religious or racial profiling of Coronavirus victims and requested the Delhi Department of Health “to stop mention of any data which has religious undertones and which can be exploited for political or communal purposes by vested interests.”
Two days after the minority panel’s letter, the Delhi government has stopped mentioning Markaz in its health bulletins from today.
In place of ‘Markaz Related’ category, they have written ‘Under Special Operations’ in the bulletin issued by the Chief Minister’s Office on Saturday.
April 11 Health Bulletin of Delhi Govt:
Total positive cases – 1069
New positive cases (on April 11) – 166
Discharged/migrated – 27
Deaths – 19
Sources of cases:
Foreign travel history/contact history- 299
Under Special Operations – 712
Under investigation – 58
However, the minority panel chief Dr Khan has termed the new category “unnecessary” and added that it will “create curiosity” among readers and will lead to the same source.
“In the first place, there was no need to mention Markaz or Tablighi Markaz in health bulletins. The new category created by the government was also not needed and it is not correct. This category will draw attention of the people and on enquiry it will also lead them to the same point,” Dr Khan told India Tomorrow.
