Indian healthcare workers attacked as Hindu media outlets target Muslim minority population
Photo Credit: (BBC News/Google Images)
Written by: Deepak Sharma
India is amending its emergency epidemic law to make attacks on healthcare workers punishable by up to seven years in prison, after a spate of incidents involving violence towards those on the frontline of the country’s coronavirus response. India has also asked social media platforms like TikTok and Facebook to remove users spreading coronavirus misinformation.
The order comes after the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the largest national body representing healthcare workers, threatened to stage nationwide protests over the attacks on their members.
India went on lockdown on Mar. 24 . India has also not yet taken a decision on when to lift or ease restrictions on flights and urged airlines to take travel bookings.
During these stressful times of a pandemic, doctors, nurses and community health workers have been spat on, stoned and beaten with sticks. Reports say doctors have been spat on and chased away from homes, and that in one case patients directed abusive and vulgar language towards female nurses.
A video went viral on social media from an incident in the central Indian city of Indore, where a crowd threw stones at two female doctors who were wearing full personal protective equipment.
Delhi's state government has reportedly written to the police, requesting more security for medical staff.
Healthcare workers have faced non-violent discrimination as well, with doctors evicted from their homes by landlords worried they could be COVID-19 carriers.
Doctors and nurses who work directly with coronavirus patients and there are reports that shortages of protective health gear in India are forcing some doctors to use raincoats and motorbike helmets while fighting the coronavirus, exposing the weak state of the public health system ahead of an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases.
In a BBC investigative report, Dr. Anand Rai, who is also a part of the COVID-19 taskforce in Indore said, "Nothing can justify the attack against the medical team. But it happened in a Muslim-dominated area where there is general distrust against the government.”
Indian authorities fear that many thousands of people may have been exposed to the virus as a result of the congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat group, at a mosque in the Nizamuddin neighborhood of New Delhi. The Islamic group ignored social distancing instructions.
In India, news channels such as Aaj Tak which is a Hindi language news channel have focused on the link between the religious gathering in Nizamuddin and the spread of the viruswhich in turn has led to a huge increase in anti-Muslim sentiment.
As a result, religious minorities are rightfully demanding that the Indian media remove their biases from their reporting. They want them to stop stop blaming or putting judgment on Muslims. However, many networks have slammed Muslims for large public gatherings.
Hence when doctors are testing Muslim populated areas of India, the citizens respond in violence because they are fearful, as media portrays them as complicit. Being minorities of a country which is majority Hindu they do not know if they will be tortured, punished, humiliated, or deported for possessing COVID-19.
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