Coronavirus victims families in IHK face inhuman treatment

Ag APP

ISLAMABAD: Family members of a man who passed away from coronavirus in Indian-occupied Kashmir — which continues to be under an ongoing communications blackout — have said they were “treated like animals” at a Srinagar hospital he was treated in.

Riyaz Ahmad Sofi, son of the deceased Tangmarg resident, told reporters that they were “treated like animals” at the Srinagar hospital and “neglected by the doctors and paramedic staff”, Kashmir Media Service reported.

“Without any protective gear, we were asked to go inside the coronavirus ward to set up a nebuliser to provide medicines to the patient,” he said, and added that the family visited the ward “five to six times” without any protective gear. “He died due to medical negligence as he was not treated well at the hospital,” Sofi said. The family has since been put in quarantine in Baramulla district while their test reports are awaited. Doctors at a Tangmarg hospital said the man had no travel history but came in contact with a person who had recently returned from abroad.

Attendants at the Srinagar hospital also complained that there were no facilities at the hospital for the attendants. Mohammad Altaf, an attendant at the hospital, said around 12 coronavirus positive patients were inside the hospital, and attendants were prone to infection as the administration had failed to provide them with any facilities.

“Hospital authorities are not informing the families about the status of the patient’s report,” he said. “None of the staff members is visiting the COVID-19 ward at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the long-running curbs on the internet prevented a handful of Kashmiri doctors to join an online training session on managing ventilators — critical equipment for patients with Covid-19.

According to Kashmir Media Service, these doctors were invited by India’s health ministry to join the training session, however, they were unable to attend because of the curbs on the internet.

The disputed region has been tense since New Delhi stripped it of autonomy in August 2019. Authorities detained thousands and introduced one of the world’s longest-running internet shutdowns, only restoring limited 2G mobile internet in January.

Despite pleas from several rights groups to completely ease restrictions, the authorities have refused. Most people in the region lack broadband connections. Dr Suhail Naik, president of the main doctors’ association in Kashmir, said education drives seen elsewhere in India about the symptoms of the virus are impossible to run in the region.

“We want to educate people through videos, which is not possible due to internet restrictions,” Naik said. “We are handicapped in the absence of high speed internet.”

In a letter to officials, human rights group the Internet Freedom Foundation said internet speeds in Kashmir were “woefully insufficient” to spread the message around combating the coronavirus threat. Internet curbs have also hindered efforts to home-school children.

All Private Schools Association in Kashmir president GN Var said the organisation had prepared online classes for the 650,000 children studying in their schools but had been unable to introduce them. “We are unable to connect with the students due to internet connectivity. It is 2G and they are unable to download study material,” he said. “I fail to understand why they aren’t restoring high speed internet.”