New Delhi, April 9 The Delhi Minorities Commission has asked the Health Secretary to stop mentioning the name of the Nizamuddin Markaz in its health bulletins as the Delhi government has been mentioning the names of Covid-19 patients from the Markaz separately.
The panel alleged that this "thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobic agenda".
Chairman of the commission Zafarul Islam Khan said in his letter "Your bulletins of coronavirus victims are showing a separate column 'Markaz Masjid'. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobic agenda of the lap media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country."
He alleged that as a result, "Muslims are being attacked in various areas, calls are being made for their social boycott, one boy has been lynched in the North-West Delhi village of Harewali, others attacked."
The minority commission said that WHO has said that countries should not profile novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in terms of religion or any other criteria.The Union health ministry said in its advisory on April,8: "Despite all precautions, if anybody catches the infection, it is not their fault. In a situation of distress, the patient and the family need support and cooperation."
Further, the advisory requested citizens to "never spread names or identity of those affected or under quarantine or their locality on the social media".
According to the Delhi Health Department, among the 669 cases, 426 are from the Nizamuddin Markaz till Wednesday.
"Total 93 patients, who were quarantined at the government facilities after they were evacuated from the Markaz, have tested positive," the health bulletin said.
( With inputs from IANS )