The Delhi Minorities Commission has expressed concern about the death of two Tablighi Jamaat members at a quarantine centre for Covid-19 patients in Sultanpuri area of North West Delhi, and urged Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to investigate the matter, The Quint reported on Saturday.

The panel said while Haji Rizwan died around ten days ago, 60-year-old Mohamed Mustafa died recently on April 22. Both of them were from Tamil Nadu and had attended the religious congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in February, which later emerged as an infection hotspot.

In a joint letter to Baijal and Kejriwal dated April 23, commission chairperson Zafarul-Islam Khan and member Kartar Singh Kochhar alleged it was because of “the callous and uncooperative nature of officers and doctors manning and supervising these camps and erratic supply of food at these facilities” that two patients – both of whom were diabetic – have died.

“Tablighi Jamaat inmates [at the quarantine centre] include Indians from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan while there are also foreign nationals from Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan,” the letter stated. “They include elderly people with health issues who require special care and medical attention.”

The panel said it has received complaints of “inhuman treatment” being meted out towards those who are quarantined. “Breakfast is served at 11 am and dinner at 10pm to 11pm,” it said. “The food is hardly edible. As a result people are having stomach problems and some are vomiting.”

The commission also wrote that “inmates are not given necessary and life-saving medicines – as a result of which two diabetic patients have already died in the quarantine camp at Sultanpuri.”

The deaths were caused because of the “carelessness of the medical and administrative staff” while these persons were in government care, which is entrusted with the responsibility of their safety and welfare during their time in quarantine, it added.

The commission said many Tablighi Jamaat members have completed 25 days under quarantine, which was much more than the mandated 14-day period. Out of 21 positive cases of Tablighi Jamaat members at the Sultanpuri centre, only around four or five were reportedly taken to hospitals, the commission said in its letter. Therefore, “those who have tested negative must be allowed to move out of these camps which in effect are jails,” it said.

Medical care, medicines and timely supply of food must be ensured in all these camps and a senior officer, such as the area Sub Divisional Magistrate, should be made personally accountable for any lapses, the commission said. “Further, in view of Ramzan, the timing of supply of food to them must also change and meticulously followed to suit fasting timing.”

Thousands of Indians and hundreds of foreigners had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference. Many also fanned out across the country to recruit people after this, raising concerns about the scale of the potential spread of infection at the conference. On April 5, the health ministry said the religious gathering had pushed up the doubling rate of cases in India to 4.1 days from the estimated 7.4 days.

On April 18, the Centre said that nearly 30% of the then 14,378 cases of Covid-19 reported in India were related to a “single source” – the event held in Nizamuddin in Delhi. Over 25,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their contacts were quarantined in the country after the Centre and the states launched a massive operation to trace them.