mangaluru the stigma attached to covid19 is worse than the infection itself feel many people who are being ostracised in society the latest to face this are those returning from mumbai and the gulf with 20 people who came by the air india express flight under the vande bharat mission to mangaluru from dubai testing positive the fear towards gulf returnees is expected to worsenthe current scenario for the returnees is unfortunate as they are going to bear the brunt of mass hysteria and widespread apprehension especially from their neighbours who are going to view them with suspicion this virus is seen as a foreign disease and many residents here are very suspicious of people who have come back from abroad as well as from mumbai neighbours are the new friends turned foes as residents are reporting the movements of returnees to the authorities said abdullah a rehman founder chief apd foundation who is currently in dubai mohan y from puttur whose cousin is waiting to return here from dubai said our neighbours are asking us about when my cousin is expected to return even after being institutionally quarantined things are not going to be easy for him many relatives have suggested that he should return only after things get back to normal many have forgotten that the coastal citys economy to an extent has depended heavily on nris especially those working in the gulf not just the gulf but even those who have returned from mumbai are looked upon with suspicion he said dakshina kannada district has received the maximum number of applications for people wanting to return from maharashtra short film highlights plight of returneesdirector writer and actor sandeep baradi has released a short tulu film nammakkul highlighting the plight of gulf returnees sandeep said the film has been inspired by a real life incident a friend who had returned from mumbai was treated like an untouchable by the society around him the theme for this 6 minute 40 second movie is about how relationships have changed because of the novel coronavirus gulf returnees were earlier asked for gifts or to sponsor events but are now neglected by their own families our aim is to spread a positive message he said adding that the film produced by sindhura kalavidaru karkala has had more than 3 lakh views in less than a week and several nris have sent him personal messages sharing similar experiences