Visuals of a senior doctor bleeding inside an ambulance in Moradabad, after a mob stoned health care staff who had gone to a locality for quarantine measures, have shook the people of India.
The Haji Neb Masjid locality in Moradabad reported 17 out of 53 persons as COVID-19 positive. Two of them had gone to the Nizamuddin Markaz gathering of Tablighi Jamaat. One of them, Sartaj, later died. The health care staff led by Dr SC Agrawal had gone there with a police team to take family members of the victim for quarantine.
When police entered the locality, stones and bricks were rained upon them, and the health care staff was attacked. Dr Agrawal lay bleeding inside the ambulance with deep cuts on his face while two other medical staff were also injured in the stoning. Rapid Action Force carried out a flag march in the locality and several stone pelters were arrested.
I want to ask a simple question: What was Dr Agrawal's guilt? Was he guilty of going to the family members of the COVID-19 victim and persuade them to come for screening and quarantine as was required? Was he guilty of trying to save the lives of Sartaj's family members who had come in contact with the COVID-19 patient? The UP government has done the right thing in taking strong action against the attackers and those who escaped must be brought to book.
A similar thing happened in Aurangabad, Maharashtra. A health care team had gone to a village to carry out screening of COVID-19 suspects. Their ambulance was stoned and the health care workers had to flee for safety.
In Delhi's LNJP hospital, at least 30 COVID-19 patients abused and misbehaved with a junior lady doctor, and when other doctors came for help, they were also attacked. The doctors had to hide in a room and call the police for help.
I want to tell the mischief-makers and stone-pelters: these doctors and nurses will ultimately save you whenever you will be attacked by the virus. No quacks can save you and only the doctors can protect you from the jaws of death. There was this incident in Kanpur, where those who had spitted at the doctors, had to ultimately appeal to doctors with folded hands to save them from death.
Can these people imagine what will happen if the doctors and nurses go on strike and refuse to work? The pandemic will engulf entire localities and towns and there will be nobody left to save those stricken with the virus.
The Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath immediately swung into action and ordered that the attackers in Moradabad be booked under National Security Act. The other state governments should take the strongest action against those elements trying to obstruct the work of our doctors and other health care workers. These people should be jailed and quarantine measures must be enforced with an iron hand.
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