After the ruckus in the Padarayanapura ward in Bengaluru South on Sunday night, the Chamrajpet MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan, who is part of the Congress party, expressed his disappointment over the way officials handled the process of shifting secondary contacts (of COVID-19 patients) to quarantine centres.
On April 10, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had sealed two wards in the city, Padarayanapura and Bapuji Nagar, as a precautionary measure, because some cases were reported from there. Reports say that eleven people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat tested positive for coronavirus. On Sunday night, the BBMP officials, ASHA workers and the police reached Arafath Nagar in the MLA’s Chamrajpet constituency, after identifying 57 secondary contacts to be shifted to a quarantine facility. However, violence broke out when some refused to go to the centre.
According to Zameer Ahmed, the officials should have raised awareness about the quarantine first, before taking them to the quarantine facility. “The people here are scared. Their fear is: where will they take us? What will they do with us? That's the fear the poor people have. They keep on dwelling on this fear,” he told the media.
Lately, there have been inflammatory reports in the local Kannada media channels, which has blamed a single community for the spread of coronavirus. There have also been reports from parts of the state of social ostracism of the community.
Zameer Ahmed said that in order to assuage this fear, steps should have been taken to reassure them first. He then went on to quote an example where he managed to convince the people in Tipu Nagar to undergo the COVID-19 test. “I had personally gone around in Tipu Nagar, reaching out to the people, (saying) that they should not be afraid. I told them that we are doing this for the benefit of their health and for the good of the nation. I told them that there is nothing wrong with (medical) check-ups. I even sent them WhatsApp messages, appealing to the community. As a result, 80 people had come forward for testing,” he said.
Incidentally, the MLA had come under fire by Kannada media channels for allegedly asking the officials not to shift them to be quarantined. However, looking at footage where channels had made the claim, it is clear that this was not the case.
He had said to the media, "They should have gone in the day time, it would have been better. Also, awareness should have been created. It's more than 50 people, officials should not have taken the risk. I would understand if it's a positive case: then they have every right to take them immediately. But these are 'doubt cases'. This is the immediate neighbours of the previous cases as precautions.... Don't misunderstand!" he had said.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa however, slammed the MLA for these statements, saying, “Who is Zameer Ahmed Khan? Why should we take his permission before doing our government duties? So in other words, was it he who incited this? He is irresponsible for making such statements.”
Zameer Ahmed had again clarified in another press meet why the officials should have gone in the day time. “I understand that if those were positive cases. The officials then have every right to quarantine them immediately. But these are suspected cases," Stressing that the people in the ward should have been shifted after creating awareness, he said, “This is a tricky population. They are not educated and are mostly daily wage labourers.”
The MLA had come under fire for allegedly supporting the mob that indulged in the vandalism at the Padarayanapura ward. However, condemning the incident, he said, “I had stated last night (Sunday) that the government should take action against them (the culprits). This is a sensitive issue and people are afraid. I ask the media with folded hands, please don't misconstrue it.”