GUWAHATI: You can keep the tribals of Northeast in COVID-19 quarantine centres but you cannot take away music from them, for it is in their blood.
This was evident in two videos shot at a quarantine centre in Churachandpur district of Manipur. The videos with duration of 30 seconds and 16 seconds showed some young men and women dancing together holding one another’s hand.
After the videos had gone viral on the social media, the locals raised an eyebrow for violation of the quarantine protocols, prompting the district authorities to order a probe. A government officer posted in the district, however, attributed this to “cultural factors”.
There are reports which suggested about “partying” by the people lodged at Bimala Raina Government High School quarantine centre. The District Magistrate Pawan Yadav told The New Indian Express the administration had not received any such report.
“There are around 20-25 returnees at the centre and they had arrived by flight. I saw a video clip in which three to four people can be seen dancing. I haven’t heard of them partying. In any case, we have ordered a probe into the incident,” Yadav said.
He said he as well as the District Superintendent of Police had visited the quarantine centre on Saturday to create awareness among the inmates on physical and social distancing.
“A team of the police that went there warned the inmates to maintain social and physical distancing. A strict advisory has been issued from our side. We are investigating it,” Yadav said.
The district has 84 quarantine facilities and there are now around 2,000 inmates in them.
“For a while, we have been creating awareness among people in the district on the COVID-19 protocols through the public address system. It is not easy to monitor 2,000-3,000 people at the quarantine centres,” the DM added.
Churachandpur is a hill district where the tribal Kukis are in a majority.