“Rock on” movie actor actor Farhan Akhtar has urged people to let doctors do their jobs without fear. The actor and popular singer says that healthcare workers are in the firing line due to people’s misconceptions and misplaced rage.
Many doctors and medical professionals are in the firing line of people’s misconceptions and misplaced rage. PLEASE let them do their jobs without fear of violence against them. They are here to help us get through this. #Respect https://t.co/aYxkFg39Sf
— Farhan Akhtar (@FarOutAkhtar) April 3, 2020
Farhan shared the video of one of the doctors, who was the victim of an attack in Madhya Pradesh's Indore. The medical staff had visited the locality to test some people who were suspected attendees of Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic congregation in New Delhi. The gathering became a hotspot of COVID-19 cases in the country, with more than 400 cases.
"We'd been working on screening of contacts for the last 4 days. But what we saw yesterday we'd not seen earlier. Stones were thrown at us and were chased by a mob. We were whisked away by Dr. Hoods in a car. We sustained injuries but we have to do our job and will not be scared," says Dr Zakiya Sayed, a healthcare worker attacked in Indore city's Tatpatti Bakhal area on Thursday.
Several other Bollywood actors also joined the chorus in condemning the assault on doctors across the country. From legendary actor Amitabh Bachchan and veteran Rishi Kapoor to actress Raveena Tandon and lyricist Javed Akhtar.
T 3491 - " सारी दुनिया का बोझ हम उठाते हैं ..." 🎼
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) April 3, 2020
( my song from film 'Coolie' ) pic.twitter.com/XfeSIYSn3R
Omg is this for real? We should be thanking our health workers everyday and praying for their well-being,they are sacrificing everything to beat this disease at the cost of their own lives and this is what they get from these ungrateful barbarians. #TributeToDoctorsAndForces https://t.co/KB5efgDWJQ
— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) April 2, 2020
I strongly condemn those who have thrown stones on the doctors in Indore and hope that Indore police will not to show any leniency to them n I request others to CO-operate with the doctors Police n administration every where . The whole nation should be united to fight Korona
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) April 2, 2020
An appeal 🙏 to all brothers and sisters from all social status and faiths. Please don’t resort to violence,stone throwing or lynching. Doctors,Nurses,Medics, Policemen etc..are endangering their lives to save you. We have to win this Coronavirus war together. Please. Jai Hind!🇮🇳
— Rishi Kapoor (@chintskap) April 2, 2020
In a similar incident in Madhya Pradesh, a doctor was attacked by the brother of a Covid-19 patient who died on 1 April. The brother, who was also being treated after testing positive for the virus, attacked the doctors and also broke a window at the hospital. In another incident, doctors at Delhi's Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain hospital were quoted by media as saying that members of the Islamic society, Tablighi, spat on them and refused to get tested for the disease.
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh state police lodged complaints against six Islamic scholars, members of Tablighi Jamat, who were being housed at a medical facility in Ghaziabad due to the coronavirus, for using sexist comments about the female nurses who were attending to them.