India: Government Acts Against Tablighi Jamaat

Even as the Indian government has filed a case against the Tablighi Jamaat, and declared its headquarters in the heart of Indian capital Delhi a COVID-19 hotspot, questions are being raised at the government itself, for allowing congregation, when testing at the airports had already commenced.

"We demand that the FIR lodged against the Tablighi Jamaat officials should be dropped. This is no time for finding fault. Rather, we all should focus on providing as much relief as possible to those in distress," said a joint statement issued by seven leading Muslim leaders and intellectuals.

One of the signatories of this statement, Zafarul Islam Khan, chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission said, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced lockdown and asked people to stay put, wherever they are, these people had no means to go anywhere and stayed back in the mosque.

"Presently, we are faced with a crisis involving the very survival of mankind. Any attempt to give it a sectarian twist would weaken our battle against the deadly virus," said the intellectuals that also included Akhtarul Wasey, president of Maulana Azad University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan and Masoom Moradabadi, secretary of All India Urdu Editors Conference.

Asasudin Owaisi, MP and president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen said communalizing the fight against pandemic was shameful.

"Tablighi Jamaat incident is being exploited to blame all Muslims for COVID19. The congregation began on March 13 and the Health Ministry had said on the same day that Coronavirus is not a health emergency," tweeted Owaisi.

People evacuated in five-day long operation

Earlier in a five-day-long operation, police and health officials evacuated 2,361 people from Tablighi Jamaat headquarters located in Nizamuddin locality of Delhi. The government claims that so far 400 people across the country who had stayed at the six-story headquarters called Banglawali mosque or Markaz have tested positive, which also includes 19 deaths.

Of those evacuated, 1804 people have been quarantined and the rest have been admitted to hospitals across the city. A doctor serving at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences was tested positive on Thursday, after reportedly visiting the Markaz.

"The government has also canceled the visas of 960 foreigners for violation of visa conditions. All of them have also been blacklisted. Home Ministry has identified another 9000 Tablighi Jamat workers and their contacts, and placed them in quarantine," said Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, in an online media briefing.

The event which took place from March 13-15, saw a large gathering of thousands of people including foreigners.

"They said FIR has been filed against the Jamaat on March 31. But we still have not received a copy of it. As per the laws, the FIR copy should reach the concerned party within 24 hours. We reached out to the police, but they said that the case has been transferred to the Crime Branch. The Crime Branch has refused to provide any copies so far, "said Shahid Ali, a lawyer hired by Tablighi Jamaat.

"We are ready to join an investigation that the government of India deems fit, once the proper protocol is followed," he told Anadolu Agency.

Fresh police notice

When approached, Delhi Police refused to answer any of Anadolu Agency's questions, regarding how they allowed foreigners to attend the mass gathering amid COVID-19 fears.

"The case has been moved and we cannot reveal anything," said Delhi Police spokesperson.

Meanwhile, in a fresh notice, police have asked Maulana Mohammad Saad, head of Jamaat, to file details of income tax returns and bank details of the past three years. The police also asked him to submit a list of employees, the number of gatherings held since January and names and details of all participants who were in the mosque since March 12. -