New Delhi: All India Lawyers Council (AILC) strongly condemns attacks on medical personnel deployed in the national duty of containing the pandemic of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
It is fortunate for the whole of mankind that the medical corps putting themselves at dead stakes of imminent peril have courageously been engaged in rendering yeomen service in the interests of humanity at large. The doctors, auxiliary staff and medical technicians, all admirably volunteering themselves, have been fighting the invisible and mysterious enemy day in and day out as our frontline heroes across the globe, particularly in our country in situations of very meager means and the most disadvantageous milliu.
We feel shocked and humiliated repeatedly hearing the news of physical attacks as well as obstructions in their work from various states of our country. Just two days back, a medical team was reportedly attacked in Rampur, UP. by those who were required a test and quarantine. The incident of the same nature was reported from Indore of MP. A number of videos of attacks on lady doctors off-duty from other states had also been circulated either from markets or by neighbors only because they were known to be involved in duty to patients of Coronavirus.
It is amply proved that the mischief mongering systematically with impunity, was widely made primarily bý a section of TV channels and social media spectacularly communalizing the pandemic in India by branding Tablighi Markaz as the main source of infection in India by concocting cock and bull stories and the Muslim community as a whole was demonstrated to be responsible for spreading the problem to every nook and corner of the country. Resulting in hatred and social boycott of Muslims at far off places.
The news pouring in and made widely circulating to serve political and exterior interests launching groups of vagabonds to randomly assault Muslim passersby and neigbours. Muslim hawkers are stopped, insulted and harrassed and also Muslim consumers are being declined not from selling them goods during the lockdown on account of their merely religious identity. The hateful statements of some politicians and posts on social media were let unabashedly spread and ill-intentionally vilifyi to demonize Muslims in various forms mostly in the name of Tablighi Markaz.
The incidents of attack on medical teams in Indore and Rampur are intolerable and the culprits are liable to bring to legal actions in accordance with relevant and stringent law but Yogi is said to remain vindictive in his attitude and perceptions of vengeance (badla lenge) for not only Rampur but all those areas where long agitations against CAA-NPR-NRC were happened or organized .or sustained enduring all police brutalities. It is reported that arrests in marked spots are continuously and unabatedly taking place even in times of pandemic. He is seen at one hand as a person carrying a history, who is fond of patronizing the multiple sorts of criminalities in the guise of Hindutva and on others, has always been proudly ruthless or habitually arrogant in conduct and unaccountable to the rule of law. He poses himself as law into himself and has now boastfully declared like his past dictates that NSA is to be invoked against the accused persons of incidents of Rampur against all those who obstructed medical team.
It is well known that he has a little faith in judicial proceedings and process His decision of Lucknow posters for recovering damages from social activists without any legal process may be a citation in point.
No government anywhere in the country except Maharastra has brought to book the named culprits and disreputed criminals for spreading and promoting of communal hatred and provocation, despite ample manifestation and availability of the facts and evidence on record. It is pertinent to mention here as one of the examples that the Hon’ble Health Minister of Delhi, Mr. Satendra Jain has, impliedly falsifying the various concocted and fabricated stories, categorically stated as per government record on 11th of April 2020 in Delhi addressing the media that thirty thousand persons from the locality of Hazrat Nizamuddin were medically tested for Coronavirus. None of them was found positive for vires except only a beggar who used to sit at the gate of Tablighi Jamat Markaz but Delhi Government had not taken any legal action against fierest vilification campaign in this case.
It is also pertinent here that through due and reliable process of examination and verification, it is now well established that such videos, up optionally magnifying the number of cases and defaming Muslims as community meant to divert the public focus, were adequately proved to be unconnected, fake, old and said to be purposely misused to create panic among the public against Muslims by posting on social media by all-powerful IT Cell with an avowed purpose also in issuing hateful, provocative and criminal statements to promote an atmosphere of communal fallout.
The Police and other Authorities had already come forward in several cases to issue statements to contradict and discredit the authenticity of such video clips and other posts that have purposely been circulated in view to widen deep cleavages for hatred and violence against Muslim community but nothing but only a lip service without any further punitive action against any individual or organized groups to create deterrence has seen the light of day.
It is more unfortunate and pessimistic for our secular democracy that the police and other law enforcement agencies have miserably been failing to rise to the occasion to contain the criminal elements at the face of political patronage to freely run the communal virus viz a viz Coronavirus. The most painful and surprising report is taking rounds in media that a fresh trend in “Hindutva lab” regarding communal epidemic found pinnacle at Ahmedabad where separate Hindu and Muslims wards are allocated for patients of Coronavirus in a hospital, according to CMO, in compliance with the order of the government of Gujrat.
There is still a silver lining amidst dark clouds as Muslims are at the forefront in the fight against Caronavirus in India and abroad. There is a case of Dr.Sayeed who was attacked along with her colleague, Dr. Neha in Indore but having no fear or ill-will, she continued to work in the same locality.
According to a report, a high proportion of Muslim doctors, nurses and medical technicians have volunteered to give their service unafraid of deaths and their death toll is about twenty percent globally, very high in comparison of their ratio in employment in respective countries.A relevant example is also of daughter Sumbul Ghouri of Hinduja Hospital of Mumbai where some medical hands were scared and opted out of two wards made reserved under govt.order for patients of Coronavirus, but this young medical technician bravely volunteered to attend the needy patients taking a risk to her own life without any fear of fatal Caronavirus into ward of Hinduja Hospital.
We, as responsible citizens, must keep ourselves on guards in present situations of calamity. The hiccups engineered by black sheep and vested interests though fringe elements in the community among Muslims yet the moles must be contained, discouraged within community and managed to get exposed and demoralized. The enlightened section may not afford to pass the buck and by all means, have to assert to play a forward role in the combat to uproot pandemic from India.Everybody among us, as proud Indian, is duty-bound to fully cooperate with government machinery and as the first priority to sincerely comply with every guideline and rules of government to ensure our place in history in the consistency of our traditions.
Advocate Sharfuddin Ahmad
Ph.8935033183
Email- sharfuddinahmad786@gmail.com