Bombay

On the 6th of October the Municipal Commissioner issued a proclamation under section 434 of the Municipal Act making provision for the removal to hospital of all plague patients and the disinfection and evacuation of infected houses. The assistance of the police was to be employed where necessary. The populace evinced the greatest alarm and excitement at the suggestion for the compulsory removal of the sick to hospital, and the increase in the epidemic, coupled with the operations in progress, produced widespread alarm. People fled from the city in large numbers. On the 10th of October a number of mill-hands assembled outside the Arthur Road Hospital and threatened its demolition as well as violence to the employes. On the afternoon of the 29th October a gang of nearly one thousand armed mill-hands attacked the same hospital, and were dispersed by the police. The incident was a grave indication of the general feeling. The large Municipal conservancy staff became affected by the general feeling of unrest and it was feared that a strike might occur among them. Mr. Snow stated that such a strike would have had the most appalling results. “ Bombay would, in a few days, have become uninhabitable and left to reek in a mass of sewage, sweepings and pollution, with no one at hand to conduct the daily routine of sanitation, much less to adopt a single preventive measure against plague.”

On the 6th of October the Municipal Commissioner issued a proclamation under section 434 of the Municipal Act making provision for the removal to hospital of all plague patients and the disinfection and evacuation of infected houses. The assistance of the police was to be employed where necessary. The populace evinced the greatest alarm and excitement at the suggestion for the compulsory removal of the sick to hospital, and the increase in the epidemic, coupled with the operations in progress, produced widespread alarm. People fled from the city in large numbers. On the 10th of October a number of millhands assembled outside the Arthur Road Hospital and threatened its demolition as well as violence to the employees. On the afternoon of the 29th October a gang of nearly one thousand armed millhands attacked the same hospital, and were dispersed by the police. The incident was a grave indication of the general feeling. The large Municipal conservancy staff became affected by the general feeling of unrest and it was feared that a strike might occur among them. Mr. Snow stated that such a strike would have had the most appalling results. “Bombay would, in a few days, have become uninhabitable and left to reek in a mass of sewage, sweepings and pollution, with no one at hand to conduct the daily routine of sanitation, much less to adopt a single preventive measure against plague.”

Added to this, both Hindus and Muhammadans view with the greatest dislike any intrusion into their homes, and especially any possible interference with the privacy of their women. Among Hindus, again, the caste system and its elaborate rules prevent the intimate association, and especially the feeding in common, of the superior and inferior castes. These habits of mind and dictates of religious and social custom greatly increase the difficulty of enforcing the precautions essential to check the virulence of an epidemic disease, such as plague. Both in the City of Bombay and elsewhere the authorities who bore the responsibility of the operations kept these matters constantly in view and the precautionary measures were always devised so as to interfere to the least possible degree with the feelings and the customs of the people for the protection of whom they were devised.

Added to this, both Hindus and Muhammadans view with the greatest dislike any intrusion into their homes, and especially any possible interference with the privacy of their women. Among Hindus, again, the caste system and its elaborate rules prevent the intimate association, and especially the feeding in common, of the superior and inferior castes. These habits of mind and dictates of religious and social custom greatly increase the difficulty of enforcing the precautions essential to check the virulence of an epidemic disease, such as plague. Both in the City of Bombay and elsewhere the authorities who bore the responsibility of the operations kept these matters constantly in view and the precautionary measures were always devised so as to interfere to the least possible degree with the feelings and the customs of the people for the protection of whom they were devised.

In the case of the City of Bombay the greatest opposition was experienced from the Sunni Muhammadans, and especially the Konkani Sunnis. General Gatacre makes the following remarks with regard to the attitude of these Muhammadans : — “In the case of the Muhammadan community, and particularly of the Konkani Sunnis, much difficulty was at first experienced in bringing them to reason. The non-possumus attitude which they at first adopted is well illustrated by the proceedings at a meeting called by Hadji Oomer Jamal on December 28th for the purpose of persuading the community to assent to segregation. Most of the speakers were in favour of prayer as the best way of averting the disease, and when the promoters of the meeting tentatively suggested segregation, an old Muhammadan gentleman, as spokesman for certain sections of the community, said, ‘ he might mention that they were totally opposed to segregation and that nothing would persuade them to send their plague-stricken to the municipal hospital.’ A young Muhammadan then arose and, in supporting the last speaker, remarked : ‘ We will not go to hospital. Our musjid is our hospital.’ And this seemed to find favour with the meeting. — ( Times of India, December 29th.)

In the case of the City of Bombay the greatest opposition was experienced from the Sunni Muhammadans, and especially the Konkani Sunnis. General Gatacre makes the following remarks with regard to the attitude of these Muhammadans: “In the case of the Muhammadan community, and particularly of the Konkani Sunnis, much difficulty was at first experienced in bringing them to reason. The non possumus attitude which they at first adopted is well illustrated by the proceedings at a meeting called by Hadji Oomer Jamal on December 28th for the purpose of persuading the community to assent to segregation. Most of the speakers were in favor of prayer as the best way of averting the disease, and when the promoters of the meeting tentatively suggested segregation, an old Muhammadan gentleman, as spokesman for certain sections of the community, said, ‘he might mention that they were totally opposed to segregation and that nothing would persuade them to send their plague-stricken to the municipal hospital.’ A young Muhammadan then arose and, in supporting the last speaker, remarked: ‘We will not go to hospital. Our musjid is our hospital.’ And this seemed to find favor with the meeting.—(Times of India, December 29th.)