Even as the central government is dramatically ramping up the restrictions amidst growing coronavirus outbreak, and have appealed to avoid large gatherings, the ani-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi continue, including several locations across the country. One of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh today dismissed the looming threat of coronavirus claiming that Corona emerged from Quran.
Yaha corona nahi hai. Hum logon ko pata hai. Unhe corona se darr hoga. Corona hamare Quran se nikla hai. Corona kya hai? Isse bhayanak bhayanak bimari aaegi. Aur uparwale ne chaha hume kuch nahin hoga. vo dare. Hum log darne wale nahin hai, (There is no corona here at Shaheen Bagh. We know that. They might be afraid of the corona. Corona emerged from the Quran. What is Corona? Deadlier diseases than corona will come. God willing, we will remain unscathed from those diseases. However, it is a matter of concern for them. They should be worried),” said a protester at Shaheen Bagh while rubbishing the apprehensions raised by many about Shaheen Bagh being a fertile ground for the community transmission of coronavirus.
Shaheen Bagh ki Shernian are so smart ??? pic.twitter.com/FweLPpG0RK
— Political Kida (@PoliticalKida) March 20, 2020
The protesters at Shaheen Bagh, who have been squatting one of the busiest thoroughfares in the National capital for over 96 days now, causing grave inconvenience to the daily commuters and inhibiting the movement of vehicles through the road, have steadfastly denied calling off their protests, even in the face of coronavirus threat.
Several Muslims seems to have strange ideas about Coronavirus. In another video, one Muslims cleric was seeing addressing a gathering in West Bengal which included several police officers. The cleric said, Corona means Quran (Co), Roza (Ro) and Namaj (Na), and whoever follows these three will not be affected by the disease. He said that coronavirus is caused by Jinns or Ghosts, and such diseases go away when one reads the religious books and follow religious practices like Roza and Namaj.
What will you say about this? pic.twitter.com/hs2pGtYgqQ
— crazy_introvert (@aaruvert) March 20, 2020
Earlier, while speaking to a Times Now reporter, one of the lady protestors had claimed that it was a ‘call from Allah’ to protest at Shaheen Bagh and she is not afraid of the global epidemic of Coronavirus.
“This is the call from Allah. If the government is so concerned about us, they should first withdraw the law. We are respectfully following the diktat of Arvind Kejriwal who had asked us to comply with the ban on gatherings of over 50 people,” said a lady ‘protestor’.
Recently, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and declared a new set of restrictions to limit the spread of the highly contagious disease. However, in flagrant disregard of the government diktat, the Muslim protestors gathered there in smaller groups and have now decided that they would not end the protest, but spilt themselves into groups of 50 and take precautions by sitting at a certain distance.
At a time when the pandemic has triggered countries across the world to enforce an all-encompassing lockdown, protesters at Shaheen Bagh have shown brazen apathy towards fellow Indians as the community transmission of coronavirus at a place like Shaheen Bagh can touch off a massive public health crisis in the country, with transmissions multiplying inexorably. The ‘protestors’ have apparently been praying and reading the Quran at the protest site, believing that praying to Allah would safeguard them from the coronavirus crisis.
