TEZPUR, May 1 - At a time when the medical workers of Sonitpur district with the rest of the State are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic round-the-clock, the desperate act of giving permission to a total of 22 persons to travel from a Red Zone area to a Green Zone area like Sonitpur district has triggered a sharp reaction among the common people here.
It may be mentioned here that a 22-member team from the Gudamghat area near Balipara in Sonitpur district went to Bilasipara in Dhubri district for taking part in a Tablighi Jamaat.
However due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the team got stranded in the lower Assam district which has been declared a �Red Zone� as per COVID-19 protocols.
Meanwhile, after beginning of the inter-district movement of people across the State due to the lockdown, these 22 persons sought online permission from the Sonitpur district administration to move from Dhubri to Sonitpur. Accordingly, they were allowed to travel from Dhubri-Bilasipara to Sonitpur.
After reaching their destination, the 22 Jamaatis, namely, Abdul Mutalib, Jamal Uddin, Akbar Ali, Sikandar Ali, Md Maijiuddin, Md Jahangeer Alam, Mujibur Rahman, Rustam Ali, Mafidul Mamin, Giasuddin, Halimuddin, Jafar Ali, Abdul Jabbar, Tahir Ali, Nur Muhammad, Abdul Jabbar, Kamaluddin Seikh, Rsidul Islam, Nabi Hussain, Mubarak Ali, Zahed Ali and Hasim Ansari, were hiding in a mosque at the Gudamghat area.
On receiving the information, police and health department officials rushed to the area and quarantined all of them at a centre near Dhekiajuli town in Sonitpur district.
Now, the question is: though the responsibility of giving permission to these 22 people did lie on the Dhubri district administration, how could the Sonitpur district administration give the permission to them to move from a Red Zone area to a Green Zone area like Sonitpur?
The local people here have raised questions on the sincerity of the Sonitpur district administration in tackling the pandemic.
