A hospital in Ahmedabad has set segregated wards for corona patients based on faith and religion. As per the reports, the Muslims and Hindu COVID-19 patients have been placed in separate rooms.
Hospital MS Dr Gunvant H Rathod says they have separated Hindu and Muslim patients according to the orders of the government. But Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister have denied any knowledge of it.
USCIRF is concerned with reports of Hindu & Muslim patients separated into separate hospital wards in #Gujarat. Such actions only help to further increase ongoing stigmatization of Muslims in #India and exacerbate false rumors of Muslims spreading #COVID19 https://t.co/GXigs4w5na
— USCIRF (@USCIRF) April 15, 2020
Dr Rathod said, “Generally, there are separate wards for male and female patients. But here, we have made separate wards for Hindu and Muslim patients.” On being asked the reason for such segregation, Dr Rathod said, “It is a decision of the government and you can ask them.”
Read more: How a hospital in India became an epicenter of the coronavirus?
According to the standard practice, the suspected coronavirus patients are kept separate from confirmed coronavirus patients until the test results are awaited.
WHAT??? the #CommunalVirus is more of a threat than #Corona Virus??Ahmedabad hospital splits COVID wards on faith, says govt decision | coronavirus outbreak News,The Indian Express https://t.co/GT1TVirWLI
— Jaaved Jaaferi (@jaavedjaaferi) April 16, 2020
The hospital has further divided the coronavirus patients on faith. Additional arrangements have been made to accommodate Muslim patients.
The hospital currently has 186 coronavirus patients out of which 150 people have been tested positive. At least 40 of those 150 confirmed patients are Muslims.
Read more: Mehwish Hayat blasts India for torturing Muslims over coronavirus
Deputy CM Patel told. “I am not aware of such a decision (on wards, as per faith). Generally, there are separate wards for males and females. I will enquire about it.”
Ahmedabad Collector KK Nirala also denied the ‘wards as per faith’ system. He said, “There has been no such instruction from our side and we are not aware of any such government decision.”
Coronavirus in India — Muslim patients are segregated into a different ward from Hindu patients at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital per a Gujarat Hindu-supremacist govt decision. Separate-but-Equal, like the apartheid in South Africa and southern US states washttps://t.co/igUFoZ97bM
— Alfons López Tena 🦇 (@alfonslopeztena) April 15, 2020
But one of the patients told an Indian publication that on Sunday night the names of 28 men were called out and then they were shifted to another ward.
All the men belonged to the same community. When asked why they have been transferred, one of the hospital staff said that this had been done for the comfort of both communities.
We are one nation, and we are fighting to save ourselves from a devastating pandemic which does not distinguish between us.
Anyone seeking to divide us along the lines of religion, caste or creed is the worst kind of enemy of this great nation and.. 1/2https://t.co/YaZI5XJq1o
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 15, 2020
A strong backlash came on Indian social media over discriminating and splitting coronavirus patients over faith. The social media user argued that humanity is needed above communal differences to fight coronavirus.