May 1: India on Thursday called as "propaganda" certain social media posts from the Arab world alleging harassment of Muslims in several parts of the country in the name of containing the spread of coronavirus.
Strongly rebutting the charges, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the Gulf countries are deeply committed to friendly relations with India and they are even seeking bilateral talks on the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
Talking about India's close and traditional ties with the Arab countries, he said New Delhi is ensuring uninterrupted supply of food and essential commodities to the region during Ramzan as part of its deep-rooted friendship.
Srivastava said the countries in the region do not support any interference in India's internal affairs.
"Much of what you see is propaganda by interested parties. Stray tweets can not be used to characterise our bilateral ties with these countries. The real picture of these relations is very much different," he said during an online media briefing.
There has been a wave of angry reactions on Twitter by leading citizens and rights activists from various Arab countries following allegations that Muslims are being blamed for spreading COVID-19 in several parts of India.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, a powerful bloc of 57 countries, recently accused India of "Islamophobia". India rejected the charges as regrettable.
"We have been making special efforts to ensure uninterrupted supply of food and essential commodities which are required during the Ramzan period in these countries, and this is something which has been greatly appreciated. These countries also want a priority discussion with India on the post-COVID-19 economic recovery," Srivastava said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar have been in regular touch with their counterparts from the region in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
"In these discussions, there have been requests for sending medicines and medical teams to these countries. We already deployed a Rapid Response Team in Kuwait. There is also a request to send doctors and nurses from India," said Srivastava.
"What comes out clearly is that these countries are deeply committed to friendly relations with India. They also do not support any interference in internal matters of India. It is, therefore, important that the friendly and cooperative nature of our relations is accurately recognised and the misuse of social media is not given credence," he added.
Asked about reports of an order issued by Oman's Finance Ministry asking all state-owned companies to replace foreign workers with qualified local Omanis, Srivastava said it is not aimed at Indians working in the Gulf nation.
"The policy is a decades-old one and not specific to India. It does not target the Indians in any way," he said.
There have been apprehensions that the order will render thousands of Indians working in state-run firms in Oman jobless.
"They greatly value relationship with India. Government of Oman is taking special care of Indians which included free testing for coronavirus, its treatment, providing food," the MEA spokesperson said.
Oman government is also extending certain categories of visas of Indians.
Srivastava said India has been in touch with its friends and partners across the world as part of the collaborative approach to dealing with the pandemic.
Mangaluru, Jun 28: The patience and presence of mind exhibited by the family members of youth covid-19 victim thwarted the attempt by a few miscreants to create communal disharmony in the coastal city today.
A 31-year-old youth from Idya in Surathkal, who was under treatment for covid-19 at designated Wenlock Hospital in the city, passed away last night.
Even though there is a Muslim graveyard under the jurisdiction of Idya mosque, it was waterlogged due to heavy rains.
Hence, the Idya mosque management had obtained permission from Mangaluru’s Bolar mosque management to bury the mortal remains of the youth in Bolar graveyard.
All necessary arrangements were made at the Bolar graveyard for the burial this morning. Meanwhile, a few residents of Bolar belonging to another community staged a protest against bringing covid-19 victim’s mortal remains to Bolar.
Mohammad Husain, general secretary of Bolar mosque, said that the family members of the departed youth exhibited their presence of mind and urged the Muslims of Bolar to preserve communal harmony.
“The Bolar mosque committee had given green signal for the burial and all arrangements were made. Meanwhile, a few people staged protest and warned us against burying the covid-19 victim’s body. When the aggrieved family members came to know this, they immediately cancelled the plan,” he said.
“The aggrieved family requested us to uphold communal amity and co-existence. They decided to bury the body in Idya itself. Then the protesters also returned,” he said.
Burial in Bolar after DC’s intervention
When the mortal remains were being taken towards Surathkal in the ambulance, the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada ordered the authorities concerned to take a U-turn and bring back mortal remains to Bolar.
The DC said it was wrong to take the mortal remains to another place after making all necessary armaments in Bolar graveyard. In order to pacify the porters it was decided to dig another grave on the other side of the graveyard, sources said.
we know the mentality of these... they are educate but their brain is full of dumb...
if tommorow some of their family member die in COVID and we will see how they manage..
first we are all human being and we must repsect the dead person..
Bengaluru, Jul 6: Criminal cases will be registered against private hospitals that refuse treatment to COVID-19 patients, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Sunday.
Addressing a press conference here at Vidhana Soudha, he said: "No hospital should refuse to admit patients and if any hospital is found denying treatment criminal cases will be registered against them."
He spoke to media persons after returning from his surprise visit to Jayanagar General Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Chest Hospital responded to the questions regarding private hospitals refusing to treat covid patients.
"The government has come up with 6 different systems for treatment of COVID-19 patients. COVID care centres, government medical colleges, private medical college, government hospitals, corporate hospitals and home isolation with proper facilities and according to government guidelines," the minister added.
Dr Sudhakar gave the statistics of 4 metropolitan cities in the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru.
"Bengaluru's and the mortality rate is the lowest at 1.46%. The aim is to increase testing by optimal utilisation of capacity especially in private labs. Once we increase testing, it is natural that the positive cases will also increase," he said.
"So citizens need not panic due to this but should take all precautionary measures. He advised to get tested in the nearest fever clinics as soon as any symptoms like cough, fever etc are found. Guidelines regarding the home isolation will be released soon," the minister said.
He announced that 400 ambulances will be deployed in Bengaluru and 2 each for every ward.
He said that the government recommended patients at private hospitals will be provided with insurance under Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust.
"If private hospitals refuse to admit the patients, call 1912 helpline to get assistance. If admitted in Private hospital voluntarily the treatment cost will be borne by patients as per the rates fixed by the government," Sudhakar said.
He said that the cost of testing at private labs has been capped at Rs 2,200 as per test.
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We are already facing lot of problems here without food and money.
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