UP medical college principal calls Jamaatis 'terrorists'; later claims video to be morphed

The principal of a prestigious government medical college in Uttar Pradesh triggered a huge controversy after she allegedly termed the coronaviru infected members of 'Tableegh-e-Jamat' as 'terrorists', who according to her should either be sent to jail or thrown into forests instead of giving them 'VIP' treatment in hospitals.

Dr Arti Lalchandani, the principal of Kanpur Medical College, was heard purportedly saying in a video that the 'jamatis' were ''draining the government resources''.

The remarks were made by the principal in an informal chat with the local reporters a few days back.

''Though I should not be saying that but these people (jamatis) are terrorists....we are giving them VIP treatment...we are exhausting our resources on them...they should be sent to jail or thrown into the forests,'' she was heard saying in the video.

She also said that the 'jamatis' were misbehaving with the doctors and paramedical staff, spitting everywhere and demanding biryani.

As the leaked video triggered a controversy, the doctor claimed on Tuesday that it had been 'doctored'. ''We served them (jamatis) to the best of our ability...we have very good relations with them...the video is a conspiracy hatched by my opponents,'' she said.

Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator from Kanpur Irfan Solanki and other senior Muslim leaders demanded stern action against the principal.

Last month, a private hospital in UP's Meerut town had banned admission of Muslim patients unless they furnished COVID-19 negative test reports for them and their attendants.

The hospital, which specialised in treatment of cancer, had put out an advertisement in a leading Hindi daily explaining in detail about the reasons that prompted it to do so.