Panic in Kashmir after rumours of kids dying due to polio drops
SRINAGAR: Wailing parents with babies in their laps rushed to hospitals in whatever transport they could get when rumour spread through Kashmir Valley on Sunday that children were dying after they were given anti-polio drops.
The rumour started on social networking sites, with WhatsApp and mobile phone calls doing the rest.
Within hours, streets choked with cars, autos, jeeps, load carriers and buses carrying weeping mothers and their babies.
In Srinagar, authorities were forced to close the out-patient section of GB Pant children’s hospital for some time as thousands of people thronged the premises. Similar mayhem was witnessed outside SMHS, JLNM and SKIMS hospitals.
People pushed and shoved demanding doctors for an “antidote”. When some doctors tried to reason with them, the agitated parents allegedly assaulted them.
Authorities requested radio and television stations to broadcast the official statement dismissing the rumour while mosques made announcements asking parents not to panic.
Police were trying to trace Facebook pages, WhatsApp groups and online sites responsible for fanning the rumour.
Health secretary Mandeep Bhandari said 1.95 million children were given the vaccine across Jammu and Kashmir and the state had received 2.5 million units of polio drops from the Union health and family welfare ministry.
“Even my child has been given polio drops today. There is no truth in reports of adverse reaction from polio drops from any part of state. We have ascertained the facts,” he said. “Tomorrow and day after, these will be administered door to door.”
Officials said some prankster started the rumour or it could be the handiwork of rabblerousers trying to foment trouble in the Muslim-majority Valley.
State immunisation officer Yangchuk Dolma said no incident of a child falling sick or dying because of the polio drops have been reported by district medical officers.
Health services director Sumir J Mattoo thought a prankster was trying to harass parents on a Sunday when most public services remain closed and not doctors attend hospitals. “Please tell everyone that the children are safe,” he told media outlets.
The Centre asked the state administration to counter the misinformation.