Alarmed at the increasing deaths of the lower middle class and middle-class Sikhs and other minorities in Delhi, since the Unlock 2.0 period started, The World Sikh News editor Jagmohan Singh writes an Open Letter to Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee Manjinder Singh Sirsa urging him to take immediate steps as the health scenario in Delhi takes a turn for the worse and the prognostications for the coming weeks is going to be simply deadly. If the Indian Council of Medical Research is to be believed. in proportion to the total population of Delhi, 200,000 Sikhs will be at risky by July end. We need to reinvent and reorient Langar from food to medical care in the tradition of Guru Harkrishan Sahib.  He states that it is a now or never situation as the two masters of Delhi play ping-pong with peoples’ lives.

DEAR MANJINDER SINGH SIRSA: WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA, WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH!  I write to you with hope and expectation.  This is an SOS call. Sikhs, who comprise nearly 5 per cent of Delhi’s population look up to you as the president of the Sikh apex body -DSGMC in Delhi to take immediate steps to save them from the health catastrophe that is striking the community and will only get worse in the coming days and weeks. We seek arrangements for beds, oxygen cylinders, ambulances, pulse oximeters, et al, managed by doctors and paramedics.

Langar is not just about food. It is about equality and sharing. It is about rising to the occasion. DSGMC is blessed with the opportunity to reorient and reinvent Langar from food to medical care to vulnerable Sikhs and others. We need to evolve Langar. You took the right steps with Langar as food for one and all, for thousands across Delhi.

 Read also: SOS: Clarion call to Sikh humanitarian groups and Sikh Samaritans

The new Langar will have Oxygen cylinders, pulse-oximeters, simple beds and the works. The city-state of Delhi may be divided into 46 centres, representing the 46 constituencies of the DSGMC and in each of these areas, Sikh schools, colleges, Sarais, dormitories, large Gurdwaras may be converted into quarantine and isolation centres.

The new Langar will have Oxygen cylinders, pulse-oximeters, simple beds and the works. The city-state of Delhi may be divided into 46 centres, representing the 46 constituencies of the DSGMC and in each of these areas, Sikh schools, colleges, Sarais, dormitories, large Gurdwaras may be converted into quarantine and isolation centres.

The city-state of Delhi is being managed by two fathers -both of whom are adopting a step-fatherly attitude. The left-hand does not know what the right hand is doing and the right-hand wants to overstep the left one at every available opportunity.  The figures being put out by the Delhi government fall short of the unfolding catastrophe and the prevarication of the Union government only fosters the notion: Protect Yourself, The Onus is on You.

 Read also: Major Covid-19 public health crisis looms over Delhi and India in July

Social and political commentator, Kumar Sanjay Singh, who has been closely monitoring the situation and has been digesting the data and reports in reputable medical journals worldwide has this to say, “Delhi is sitting on a Covid19 explosive. Sadly, our governments have abandoned us. Now it is for us to rise to the occasion and save ourselves.”

It is now or never. Guru Har Krishan Sahib, in whose memory Gurdwara Bangla Sahib stands -who took care of the sick and the ailing when an epidemic of cholera struck the then city of Delhi in the seventeenth century, beckons you and your team.

Experts are of the opinion that by the third week of July, the pandemic will reach its peak in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and the situation will be grossly devastating.

Reputed journal dw.com, in its latest story, has said that “India could have ‘several coronavirus peaks’. Its report from Delhi says, “As coronavirus cases rise sharply in India, the country’s public health system has been overburdened with Covid-19 patients, with many needing intensive care and ventilators.

 Read also: Wages of hubris: India overtakes Italy as a Covid19 hotspot

In response to a media query, Raman Laxminarayan of CDDEP- Centre for Disease Dynamics and Economic Policy said, “The Indian Council of Medical Research -ICMR’s serosurvey (collection and testing of serum specimens from a sample of a defined population over a specified period of time) indicates that 1 crore (10 million) Indians had been infected by mid-May. Therefore, it is not unreasonable that we would have 300+ million infections by July. Keep in mind that from the virus’ perspective, the distance of getting from about 10,000 cases in mid-March to 10 million in mid-May (a factor of 1,000) is easier from getting 10 million to 300 million (a factor of 30).”

Citing figures given by the Cabinet Secretary of the present Narendra Modi government, eminent journalist SP Singh says, “On August 15, India’s total cases will be 2,74,96,513, that is a quarter shy of there crores. On this independence day, the country will see 18,46,781 patients being confirmed as corona positive new cases every day.

Furthermore, prestigious medical journal Lancet has published a study that says that institutional quarantine is much more effective than home quarantine.

It is indeed ironic that during the last few weeks and days, the DSGMC was unable to do much for their Sewadar Gurpreet Singh who died due to Coronavirus infection and the DSGMC member Tarlochan Singh Mankoo, whose family had to go to many hospitals, till they found a bed for him, but he succumbed soon.  The deaths of Satinder Singh Lucky, Navneet Singh Bawa, Kanwal Preet Singh, Inderpal Singh Bedi and his brother.

In the last eight weeks, individual Sikh volunteers, small organisations including the DSGMC have been in the forefront to ensure that nobody goes hungry in Delhi.  You have contributed immensely towards this end and you have the Guru’s blessings for this. Now is the time for the next phase of the Sewa.

And Delhi University expert Kumar Sanjay Singh says, “The Sikhs have remarkable paraphernalia around Gurdwaras with a huge potential to use their institutions to set up temporary quarantine and isolation facilities and I see no reason why they should delay this.”

Just like what British Sikhs have been claiming, I feel in Delhi too Sikhs have been disproportionately hit by the #COVID19 pandemic. Came across this post on my Facebook timeline about Raajpreet, who lost her father and chacha (uncle) in a span of 5 days to coronavirus. 🆘 pic.twitter.com/LboNyvDo52

— Harjinder Singh Kukreja 🏳️‍🌈 (@SinghLions) June 16, 2020

It is clear that every resident of Delhi, especially the vulnerable middle class has to take care of itself. The medical warriors of the first phase of the Lockdown are now becoming medical leeches -those running heart hospitals are without a heart and with barely any regulation in place, people, including Sikhs, are running from pillar to post -from private clinics to government hospitals to gigantic speciality centres -in private cars, waiting to die.

“The Sikhs have remarkable paraphernalia around Gurdwaras with a huge potential to use their institutions to set up temporary quarantine and isolation facilities and I see no reason why they should delay this.”

Kumar Sanjay Singh, expert political commentator

There is no time to lose. Sinking all differences, you may call a face to face or virtual meeting of who’s who of Sikhs in Delhi -sincere individuals, politicians irrespective of party affiliation, non-governmental organisations and set the ball rolling. You may make a call to Sikh doctors and paramedics and I am sure they will respond to the need of the hour.

I have spoken to many individuals and organisations in Delhi and elsewhere who are willing to pitch in and it is a matter of time that Sikhs will respond so overwhelmingly to this project that it will have a domino’s effect for other communities to follow. Medical oxygen manufacturers bodies across Delhi and India have promised full cooperation to make this campaign a success.

Medical oxygen manufacturers bodies across Delhi and India have promised full cooperation to make this campaign a success.

It is indeed ironic that during the last few weeks and days, the DSGMC was unable to do much for their Sewadar Gurpreet Singh who died due to Coronavirus infection and the DSGMC member Tarlochan Singh Mankoo, whose family had to go to many hospitals, till they found a bed for him, but he succumbed soon.  The deaths of Satinder Singh Lucky, Navneet Singh Bawa, Kanwal Preet Singh, Inderpal Singh Bedi and his brother.

The pain in the voices of the relatives of these deceased should send shudders down your spine and anyone who hears it. Many more are recovering in hospitals, who are fleecing them and they are arranging funds through friends, relatives and loans. Hospitals have turned down requests to honour medical insurance policies. The economic impact of this will push many Sikh households into abject poverty as people just cannot afford to spend Rs. 10-15 lakhs being charged by private hospitals.

The hospital infrastructure -public and private has been overwhelmed as medical workers are infected and the number of patients is far more than the available beds. Railway bogies have been converted into hospital beds, quarantine and isolation facilities.

The hospital infrastructure -public and private has been overwhelmed as medical workers are infected and the number of patients is far more than the available beds. Railway bogies have been converted into hospital beds, quarantine and isolation facilities.

You may be aware that a report prepared by the Public Health England, recently leaked shows that COVID-19 has had a disproportionate impact on the BAME community -Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. The official review has found “racism, discrimination and social inequalities”.

The economic impact of this will push many Sikh households into abject poverty as people just cannot afford to spend Rs. 10-15 lakhs being charged by private hospitals.

Like the Sikhs of Delhi, there too the minorities have expressed “deep dismay, anger, loss and fear.” The second part of the report is equally relevant to Delhi. Engagements with the community highlighted the “BAME community’s deep concern that, if lessons are not learnt from the initial phase of this epidemic, future waves of the disease could again have severe and disproportionate impacts.”

British Member Parliament Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi, who himself has lost relatives to Covid19 has sought an inquiry into rising deaths amongst the British Asian population. British Parliamentarian Preet Kaur Gill has pointed out the disproportionate deaths amongst Sikhs in British Midlands. The first twelve doctors to die from the virus in the UK were all from ethnic minority backgrounds, prompting calls from the British Medical Association for an urgent investigation, which has been ordered.

Slough MP @TanDhesi calls for action as report reveals BAME community ‘disproportionately impacted’ by COVID-19 https://t.co/XoPpstgCZX

— SloughWindsorExpress (@ExpressSeries) June 9, 2020

A large number of Indian-Americans have died due to Covid-19 in the US. As per media reports, many are still maintaining anonymity and not informing their families and communities.

There is no such report in Delhi or India and everything is being kept under the wraps. The concern of the community should serve as a clarion call for all of us. The DSGMC should immediately set up a Task Force to help the members of the Sikh community.  I have no hesitation in saying that this will be emulated by others and in this, we will be able to save valuable lives in Delhi.

As I said at the beginning of the letter -it is now or never. Guru Har Krishan Sahib, in whose memory Gurdwara Bangla Sahib stands -who took care of the sick and the ailing when an epidemic of cholera struck the then city of Delhi in the seventeenth century, beckons you and your team.

With 5 per cent of the population of Delhi being Sikhs, we are staring at thousands of Sikhs being in the spate of the pandemic. If we do not prepare today, tomorrow will be too late. You need to give exhaustive guidelines regarding staying at home and stepping out only if it is absolutely essential.

You have an opportunity to serve the Sikhs and humankind with the blessings of Guru Harkrishan Sahib. It is my hope and prayer that you will respond without any delay.

Sincerely

Jagmohan Singh
Editor, The World Sikh News