Communalisation of COVID-19: Kuwait sacks one Indian, another under investigation
After UAE took punitive action against two Indians for blaming Muslims for coronavirus, another Gulf country Kuwait has now cracked the whip on two Indians, who had shared similar communal hatred posts on social media. One such Indian was Kundan Kumar from Pupri in Bihar, who was working at Burger King in Kuwait.
In one of his Facebook posts, Kumar had written, “Jamaati Corona Bomb has left in search of Jannat at several places. We have to be careful. These idiots will get 72 virgins, but we will get deaths.” Kundan was repeating the Islamophobic narrative peddled by Indian TV channels, who blamed the Islamic religious sect for the spread of COVID-19.
Hello @burgerkingkw
— Woke Muslims ? (@WokeMuslims) April 11, 2020
Kundan Pandey who claims to be your employee believes that Muslims are on a mission to spread #coronavirus. He is targeting religion, Please take stern action for spreading Islamophobia and vilifying Muslims. @kuna_en @kuwaitpolice3 @MOInformation FYI. pic.twitter.com/461tm5MYek
Several social media users demanded strict action against him by bringing the issue to the attention of Burger King in Kuwait, Kumar’s employer.
تنويه هام على ما تم تداوله في وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي . pic.twitter.com/B0NZVTRmn5
— برجر كنج® الكويت (@burgerkingkw) April 11, 2020
Burger King Kuwait later released an official statement confirming the sacking of Kumar from the job. The statement in Arabic reads, “In reference to what’s been circulated on social media platforms about one of our staff in one of our branches inciting hatred and racism, we confirm and condemn this individual’s behaviour.”
In another incident, a professor of Indian origin is set to lose his job for his anti-Muslim post on the Facebook. Authorities in Kuwait have initiated an investigation against Nandakumaran Moorkath, a professor at Kuwait University. Kuwaiti MP Nayef Almrdas confirmed the development on Twitter and said that the insult to ‘our religion’ will not be tolerated.
Wasim was called dismissed him
— عبدالرحمن النصار (@alnassar_kw) April 11, 2020
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
