People suspicious, we are not treated well, say NRIs in Punjab

Non-resident Indians (NRIs) unable to fly back to their countries because of the countrywide lockdown amid the Covid-19 crisis are facing a hard time in the district because of locals’ misconception that they brought the disease to the village.

Mohinder Bath, on a visit to his native village, Rurki, from the United Kingdom (UK), said he was stopped by the security guard from entering the Capital Small Finance Bank last week as he was an NRI.

“Though I spoke to the bank manager, I had to fill the voucher outside the bank while a local resident was allowed inside to collect my cash,” Bath said.

Mandeep Kaur, also from the UK and currently in Cheema village, said she was already stressed because she was unable to fly back home, and on top of that the neighbours were afraid to talk to her. “They accuse us of spreading the virus,” she says.

The NRIs also allege that a well known Punjabi singer’s song on YouTube blaming them as irresponsible carriers of the coronavirus, which had been tweeted by a top Punjab police official, was the reason behind people’s wrong perceptions.

With the death of Baldev Singh, Punjab’s first Covid-19 fatality, who had returned to India from Germany via Italy, “Most people, especially in the rural areas, believe that NRIs in their neighborhood are a threat. The government should spread awareness among people and save NRIs from mental tension,” said Satnam Singh Chahal, executive director, North American Punjabi Association.

Parminder Kaur, a Goraya resident who returned from Canada last month, said that local councillor and a person working with the administration posted the quarantine notice outside her house on March 29, “asking me to stay quarantined till April 14 ,“even though I showed them documents proving that I came here with my children on March 10.”

She said the locals were not behaving well with her and her children who had accompanied her to India did not want to come back again.