At a time when the country needs solidarity among its people, a pernicious air of suspicion seems bent on undermining our collective fight against covid-19.
News reports say that Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has set up separate wards for Hindu and Muslim covid patients and suspected cases.
This is appalling. While the medical superintendent of the hospital reportedly insists that this segregation by faith has been done in accordance with a decision of the Gujarat government, Nitin Patel, the state’s deputy chief minister and health minister, denies any knowledge of the same.
So what’s going on? An inquiry must be done right away. Ever since infections traced to a mid-March religious congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi hit the news, a