The death of former Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Thakur Puran Singh due to Coronavirus has added worries of the authorities as the deceased was among thousands of residents of the Union Territory who recently returned from Haridwar, after attending the Kumbh Mela.
Although the former minister had quarantined himself in his home, the biggest task before the authorities is to trace all his contacts, conduct Covid tests and check the spread of the virus further. A large number of devotees from J&K had gone to Haridwar to take a dip on the occasion of Somvati Amavasya on April 12.
Most of these devotees have returned to their native places without proper testing at entry points as the current Covid restrictions in J&K were imposed much later.
Somvati Amavasya is considered the most auspicious day in the Hindu calendar as devotees take a dip at various places on this day. Seizing the opportunity of Kumbh Mela, a large number of devotees had gone to Har Ki Pauri Ghat at Haridwar, especially for this occasion. "Tracing contacts of the former minister is very difficult but we will try our best to identify those who were in touch with the deceased," a senior police officer said.
Deceased Minister had created history
Thakur Puran Singh, a former minister in the PDP-Congress government headed by Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, had created by winning assembly election, as an Independent candidate, from Darhal assembly segment of Rajouri district in the year 2002. Although Muslim voters in the Darhal assembly constituency are more than 78 percent, Singh emerged victorious from this segment with the support of all sections of the society by defeating candidates of all mainstream political parties.
Rajouri University halts in-person activities
Meanwhile, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri has suspended all in-person academic activities in the varsity till May 15. As per a circular by Prof. Iqbal Parwez, Dean Academic Affairs, the decision has been taken in view of the sharply escalating COVID-19 pandemic.
"All offline classes and in-person academic activities will remain suspended until May 15, 2021," reads the circular, adding, "All standard SOPs and protocol in vogue for prevention and safeguard against the spread of COVID-19 pandemic as communicated from time to time should be strictly adhered to".
