Rais Khan Pathan, a member of the Delhi Waqf Board who resides in the national capital, alleged that a red “home quarantine” sticker was put up outside his Ahmedabad residence on 1 April by the city’s civic body “by mistake”.
He says that even though he tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his wife and daughter, who live in Ahmedabad, are being discriminated against and have been isolated by the neighbours, after the sticker sparked fear in the locality.
Khan said, “The sticker indicated that I have coronavirus but I have gotten myself tested from AIIMS, where I got a negative result.”
How Did the Confusion Happen?
Hundreds of people with a history of travel or having contact with someone who has traveled abroad, were identified by the municipal body in March and these red “home quarantine” stickers were put outside their houses, to take precautions against the spread of the virus.
The sticker, with the name and address of the person identified, mentions the time period for which the family has to stay in isolation. It reads, “Don't speak/meet to people from this house. This house is under quarantine.”
Rais Khan has been living in Delhi for the last five years and has not traveled anywhere outside the city in the last six months, not even to his hometown in Ahmedabad. Then why was a sticker put outside his home?
Khan lives in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area, which is now being monitored by Delhi Police after many who attended a religious gathering were found to be positive for COVID-19. Many of these people, who had attended the Markaz Jamaat event, had also traveled to Gujarat and are currently being traced and tested by the state government.
Because Khan lives in Nizamuddin area and his permanent address is registered in Ahmedabad, he too was identified as someone who may have come in contact with someone from the religious gathering. Hence, the civic body workers went to his house on 1 April and put up the red stickers.
The ‘Gaffe’ by Ahmedabad Civic Body
Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC) Commissioner, Vijay Nehra said, “We have not put up any sticker declaring anyone as coronavirus positive. It is put up to identify and monitor those who need to be home quarantine for 14 days.”
Nehra added, “The sticker was put because the family did not divulge the information that Pathan was not in Ahmedabad. The moment Pathan got in touch with us and said he lives in Delhi, we removed the stickers.”
“We continue to take all steps to prevent the outbreak of coronavirus. We are reaching out to all contacts of positive cases. We are working closely with the community to seek cooperation and prevent the spread of the disease,” he said.
However, Rais Khan’s wife, Mahejabeen, who was in the house when the health workers had come to paste the stickers said, “We repeatedly told them that Rais Khan does not live in Ahmedabad. We also told them that he has been living in Delhi for the last 5 years and has not visited Ahmedabad in the past few months. They did not listen to us and said they had orders from above.”
“Even after the stickers were removed, our neighbours have isolated us. They tell my daughter that our family is coronavirus positive and nobody should talk to us. They have all distanced themselves from our family.”Mahejabeen
Gujarat has reported more than 120 cases of the novel coronavirus and 11 deaths, so far.
(With inputs from Deepak Patel in Ahmedabad)
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