After the death of two patients of COVID-19, who were associated with Tablighi Jamaat, in Sultanpuri, north-west Delhi, the Delhi Minorities Commission has alleged that they both died as they were diabetic and were not provided food, medicines and necessary treatment on time.
The panel has urged Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to probe the incident. In a joint letter to Baijal and Kejriwal, Commission chairman Zafarul-Islam Khan and member Kartar Singh Kochhar wrote that improper conditions at the quarantine centres were responsible for the death of the two men.
Both deceased hailed from Tamil Nadu. They said it was “due to the callous and uncooperative nature of officers and doctors manning and supervising these camps and erratic supply of food at these facilities” that the two diabetic patients died.
The panel said while Haji Rizwan died around 10 days ago, 60-year-old Mohamed Mustafa died recently on April 22. It said they both hailed from Tamil Nadu. Both of them are learnt to be from the group that attended the Markaz in Nizamuddin that was organised by the Tablighi Jamaat.
Stating that many of the quarantined people from the community have completed 25 days in quarantine, which was much more than the required 14 days, the Commission said a vast majority of them had also tested negative, reported The Wire. But, it charged that these people have been kept in these centres with “some of those who tested positive”.
Out of 21 positive cases of Jamaat members at Sultanpuri camp, only around 4-5 were reportedly taken to hospitals, the Commission said in its letter.
“Breakfast is served at 11 a.m. and dinner at 10-11 pm. The food is hardly edible. As a result people are having stomach problems and some are vomiting. Medical facilities and medicines are not provided while some of the inmates are diabetic and heart patients. Doctors rarely visit the patients.”
The Commission also wrote that “inmates are not given necessary and life-saving medicines – as a result of which two diabetic patients have already died in the quarantine camp at Sultanpuri.”
It added, “it is very unfortunate that this was allowed to happen due to the carelessness of the medical and administrative staff while these persons were in government care and therefore government was responsible for their safekeeping and welfare during their detention.”