ON MAY 1, an 18-year-old woman from a prominent Muslim business family in Bhatkal’s Madina Colony was rushed to the taluk hospital with high fever. Four days later, she (P659) tested positive for Covid-19 and, subsequently, 27 of her primary and secondary contacts tested positive. The sudden surge in Covid-19 cases has triggered panic as Bhatkal, in Karnataka’s Uttara Kannada district, had been free of cases since the first 12—who had travelled to Dubai—reported in March.
P659’s infection might have originated in First Neuro hospital in Mangaluru in the neighbouring Dakshina Kannada district. P659’s elder sister and brother-in-law had taken their son to the hospital in April; they were issued emergency passes by the district administration. At least two people who visited the hospital in April had died of Covid-19.
The second wave of Covid-19 cases paved the way for fresh communal tensions and trust deficit. It has happened before; caused by the terror links of Iqbal and Riyaz Shahbandari—the infamous Bhatkal brothers—and terror convict Yasin Bhatkal (Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa). In 2017, Shafi Armar, another Bhatkal local was declared a global terrorist. These developments led to the scrutiny of the sleepy coastal town by national intelligence and anti-terror agencies. The Navayath Muslim community (to which the Bhatkal brothers belong) faced hostility. Navayaths are proud of their Arab origins and preserve this link through trade and marriage. The enterprising community control the local economy and real estate and a majority of Hindus depend on them for livelihood.
Now, the “casual” response of the community to Covid-19 has upset other local communities, pushing the district administration to take stringent containment measures in the town. On May 6, BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde went into a huddle with senior officials in Bhatkal. After the meeting, the administration sealed the Madina Colony and divided the town into five zones. It withdrew passes, deployed men and drones for surveillance and made arrangements for door delivery of essentials. Other safety measures included door-to-door Covid-19 screening and the mandate that only government ambulances were allowed to ply. However, some steps were rather unusual. Like shutting down medical shops and the deployment of two constables each at the three Muslim burial grounds.
While Hegde refused to brief the media, official sources confirmed that the MP had sought a report on 22 “suspicious deaths and quiet burials” during the lockdown. He reportedly insisted that the health department should be notified about every death. As per the new directions, the throat swab from the deceased person is to be collected and tested to rule out Covid-19 before the body is buried. The tehsildar banned all private doctors from treating patients. A homeopathy doctor was caught after a taluk officer returning from work saw a sick man on the road. He told the officer that he was being treated for fever and cough by the doctor. Soon, the doctor and 121 of his contacts were quarantined and their swabs collected. Meanwhile, locals claim the doctor is related to the Bhatkal brothers.
Dr Mohammad Haneef Shabab, Unani doctor and former general secretary of the Majlis-e-Islah-o-Tanzeem (highest religious body of Muslims in the area) defends the doctor in quarantine saying that he is a veteran who has earned the goodwill of people from all communities. “Like many across the world, he, too, might have fallen prey to a misinformation campaign saying that Covid-19 is harmless and is just like seasonal flu,” says Shabab. “The Tanzeem is trying hard to change the mindset of people and has released a video warning people about Covid-19.”
The saffron brigade suspects that the “lack of cooperation” is intentional. Local BJP leader Govind Naik says: “There was a sudden increase in the sale of fever, cough and cold tablets. The cloth used for burial was being secretly sold from inside closed shops. There is no smoke without fire. Local leaders also say that it is difficult to track secret burials because the Tanzeem controls the municipality.”
Shabab says the right-wing activists are wrongly blaming the Muslim community for the Covid-19 outbreak. He says it was never the practice to inform the administration about deaths as soon as they happened. “The dead are usually buried and it is reported in a day or two to avail the death certificate,” he says. Tanzeem members have voiced their concern over “targeting of Muslims” under the guise of Covid-19 containment measures. A Tanzeem member who requested anonymity, points out some of the administration’s failures: “Why did the taluk administration not track down people who availed medical emergency passes? The doctor who is under quarantine ran the clinic in the heart of the town. Why did the police not shut it down earlier? Who stopped them from monitoring sale of over-the-counter drugs?” He adds that pass holders have been harassed at check posts.
“The community is upset to hear that the 22 dead bodies will be exhumed for testing,” says Shabab . “We have locked burial grounds, but are against the deployment of beat constables. Will they deploy police at the Hindu cremation grounds?”
Sensing the trust deficit, district superintendent of police Shivaprakash Devaraju, in his appeal to people said that they should not take it as an insult if a sample is collected for testing. Bhatkal MLA Sunil Naik, also of the BJP, is a worried man. “The cases are soaring and unless the people cooperate, the containment of the virus is impossible,” he says. “[But,] I feel the people are slowly getting convinced that Covid-19 is a real threat.” He says that the lack of Covid-19 testing facility in the district is affecting contact tracing and isolation.
Bhatkal, which witnessed communal riots in 1993, and two high profile murders of Hindu leaders—sitting MLA Dr U. Chittarajan (1996) and Thimmappa Naik (2004)—also saw the Tanzeem grow stronger and the saffron brigade struggle to safeguard its political space. But, in recent times, the right-wing has returned strongly, resulting in a silent power struggle with the Tanzeem. Now, Covid-19 has become a stimulus for further polarisation; the hostilities have reached such a point that even relief and ration was distributed selectively.