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Jharkhand records first Coronavirus case: Malaysian woman who was part of a foreigners group hiding in Ranchi Mosque tests positive

OpIndia Staff
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Jharkhand records first Coronavirus case: Malaysian woman who was part of a foreigners group hiding in Ranchi Mosque tests positive

A Malaysian woman who was recently found hiding in a Mosque in Ranchi has become the first patient of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the state of Jharkhand. “A Malaysian woman, who is among the 24 persons found staying in a mosque in Ranchi, has been found positive. She is absolutely normal and asymptomatic,” Principal Secretary (Health) Nitin Madan Kulkarni said.

24 people including 17 foreigners who were hiding inside the mosque were sent to quarantine on Monday after Ranchi police raided a mosque known as Badi Masjid by locals. They had been sent to isolation wards in Khel gaon in Ranchi. Of the 17 foreigners, eight belong to Malaysia, three belong to Britain, two belong to West indies, two to the Gambia and one each from Holland and Bangladesh.

Ranchi police had received inputs of some people hiding in a mosque called Badi Masjid situated under the Hindpiri police station of Ranchi. Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta told ANI, “They have been kept in isolation and their COVID-19 tests will be done. The probe is being done as per the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines.” As per reports, the people were living there for the last one month. The police team reached the place with a medical team.

Last week, nine foreigners Muslims were caught hiding at Bundu situated on the outskirts of Ranchi. They were sent to isolation wards. Some of them also belonged to China. Eleven Islamic clerics were nabbed by the Ranchi police from the Rargaon Mosque in Tamar area of ​​Ranchi amidst the threat of Chinese coronavirus. Three Maulvis from China, three from Kazakhstan and four others from Kyrgyzstan were hiding in that mosque.

‘You have to be someone to get insulted bro’: Chetan Bhagat slays Kunal Kamra for his disparaging remark

OpIndia Staff
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‘You have to be someone to get insulted bro’: Chetan Bhagat slays Kunal Kamra for his disparaging remark

Unfunny comedian Kunal Kamra, who keeps pulling stunts on Twitter to stay relevant, was today brutally shown his place when he attempted to mock author Chetan Bhagat.

In a surprising move, Kamra, who routinely attacks PM Modi and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami on Twitter, trained his guns on Chetan Bhagat and shared a screenshot of a Twitter conversation of the bestselling ‘author’ Chetan Bhagat in which he asks: “Scale of 1-10, how bored are you right now?”

A Twitter user had replied: “11 but still won’t read your book.”

Sharing a picture of this conversation, Kamra tagged Chetan Bhagat saying that even he doesn’t get insulted so frequently and badly.

However, Chetan Bhagat had a perfect riposte up his sleeve. In a befitting reply to Kamra’s tweet, Bhagat said, “You have to be someone to get insulted bro.” At the time of publishing this article, Chetan’s tweet had already garnered approximately 11,000 RTs and 57,000 likes.

Though, Chetan’s unsparing rebuttal should have ended the showdown then and there. But, Kamra, out of his force of habit, tried to make a comeback on Bhagat’s scathing tweet. In a tweet, characteristic of his unfunny humour, Kamra waffled, “Being Someone is the right category your career falls into, no one knows why but for some godforsaken reason, you are still relevant…” Kamra tweeted.

With the coronavirus lockdown underway, Kamra appears to mock Chetan Bhagat to tickle people’s funny bones on Twitter. However, he was, perhaps, unprepared that Bhagat’s stunning response would make him the butt of all jokes. Kamra’s Twitter antics have often yielded disastrous results for him. Earlier, all airlines had Indian airlines had banned him from flying after he uploaded a video on Twitter in which hectored Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami midair on a flight to Lucknow, endangering lives of other fellow passengers.

1,746 people staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz as of March 21, 441 of them showing COVID-19 symptoms: Read details

OpIndia Staff
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1,746 people staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz as of March 21, 441 of them showing COVID-19 symptoms: Read details

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today said there were about 1,746 people staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz as of March 21, the area that has become the site that became the latest hotspot for the outbreak of coronavirus in India.

Of these, 216 were foreigners and 1,530 were Indians. Additionally, about 824 foreigners had been engaged in Tableegh activities in various parts of the country, confirmed MHA.

“Details of these 824 foreigners were shared on March 21 with the police of states for getting them medically screened and quarantining them. On March 28, states were advised to collect names of Indian Tableegh Jamaat workers to get them medically screened and quarantined.”

“So far, about 2,137 such persons have been identified in different states. They are being medically examined and quarantined. This process is still on and more such people would be identified and located,” confirmed the MHA.

Earlier in the day, the Home Ministry had said that the foreign Islamic preachers who visited India on a tourist visa but attended the Islamic religious conference organised by the “Tablighi Jamaat” are in violation of visa rules and almost 800 such Indonesian Islamic preachers, who attended the event, may now be blacklisted for flouting the visa rules.

Meanwhile, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, briefing the nation on the ongoing Coronavirus situation in Delhi in the light of the Nizamuddin Markaz event revealed that out of the 1538 people were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz, 441 have symptoms of COVID-19 and 1107 under quarantine. While 24 cases have tested positive, the others’ results are awaited.

He furthered that the local transmission is under control in Delhi, however, it is possible that many positive cases can come up because of the Markaz event. “Corona’s local transmission is under control in Delhi. As per the reports we are not in the stage of community transmission,” Kejriwal said.

He said no community transmission case has been recorded in the national capital.

“We have analysed 97 cases including 24 cases from Markaz, 41 foreign travellers, 22 close relatives of foreign travellers. The situation is under control, there is no community transmission,” he said.

Kejriwal made the remark at a time when twenty-four people have tested positive for Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) while seven died in the national capital of India following a mass gathering of Tableeghi Jamaat preachers at a religious event which was held at Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Nizamuddin here.

Around 8,000 people from across the country attended a gathering between 13-15 March at the Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid, the headquarters of the “Tablighi Jamaat” in Nizamuddin area of south Delhi. Many cases of coronavirus deaths have now been traced to the Muslim event at the Banglewali Mosque which had seen a large gathering. The Mosque is the global centre for the Tablighi network and the origin of the Tablighi Jamaat, as per Wikipedia.

The Mosque reportedly regularly hosts Islamic followers and preachers from all over India and from many nations in the world. From here, preachers are sent to Mosques all over India.

On March 29 (Sunday), around 50-70 people, who were hiding in the mosque, were taken to LNJP hospital as they showed COVID-19 symptoms. 24 have been tested positive. 

On March 30 (Monday) it was again reported that as many as 200 people from the Nizamuddin Dargah and surrounding areas were taken to various hospitals in Delhi after they showed suspected coronavirus symptoms. As per reports, the area around the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Mosque near it has been cordoned off by Delhi police.

Now, a medical camp has been set up in the area and samples are being tested. Drones have been deployed to maintain strict vigilance over movements. As per reports, over 2000 people in the area are now under quarantine.

The sheer number of gatherers at the religious event among coronavirus suspected cases is a cause of worry because not only have they travelled across Indian before the lockdown kicked in, but also the larger possibility of contact transmission all over India.

Rajasthan: Many people without any documented symptoms now test positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus in Bhilwara, says report

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Many people without any documented symptoms now test positive for the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus in Bhilwara, says report

Accounting for 25 out of 60 Wuhan coronavirus positive cases reported from Rajasthan, Bhilwara turns into the COVID-19 capital of the state. And now, a new challenge awaits the state authorities in Rajasthan. Many people in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, who are not showing any documented symptoms of the infection, are now reportedly being tested positive for the deadly virus.

According to a report by Patrika, despite showing no symptoms, these people who were screened and their blood samples were tested, following the Rajasthan governments decision to screen the entire Bhilwara town for the novel coronavirus, have tested positive for the disease.

All this began when Bhilwara first discovered that two doctors and four medical staffs of the Brijesh Banger Memorial Hospital tested positive for the coronavirus on March 19. The coronavirus-infected doctors of this private hospital treated hundreds of patients before themselves testing positive for the virus. It sparked a scramble to detect their contacts and contain the spread.  

Since then, the city has had 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases with two deaths (as of March 29), and almost all of them can be traced back to this private hospital.

In view of the possibility of a widespread community outbreak, all the 265 staffs of the hospital were quarantined and their blood samples have been sent for testing. However, it has now emerged that few staffs who did not show any symptoms of the infection have also tested positive for the disease.

Doctors said the coronavirus impact was earlier concentrated near the hospital, but now it seems to be moving towards the community stage. They said till now doctors, nursing workers and other staff were the ones to be found positive, but now patients who had been in contact with them, or even others contacted by the medical personnel are turning out to be positive. And many of them have reportedly shown no signs of the illness, despite which they have been tested positive.

This had forced the Bhilwara administration to impose curfew in the entire district and seal all exits. Twenty-five other persons found to have been in immediate contact of affected doctors and health personnel were immediately quarantined. The administration ordered a complete lockdown, sealed markets and launched an all-out screening of 3.5 lakh people in 80,000 households. The exercise is halfway through, but the district magistrate has now alerted neighbouring districts, that a few patients who attended the hospitals were also suspects and needed to be tracked immediately.

Reports say that the administration is now sealing off entry and exit points in individual colonies and localities. The city has a ghost town look while strict curfew orders have been imposed.

The fear of moving towards the Stage-3 (community stage) of infection, has prompted the state health department to send a minibus to Nathdiyas, a large village located in Raipur Tehsil of Bhilwara district, Rajasthan, and pick up all the residing people from there irrespective of them showing the coronavirus symptoms or not. All the people have now been quarantined and will only be left after proper screening and tests.

Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 found spitting out on roads from buses

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 found spitting out on roads from buses

If defying government orders proscribing large gatherings amidst coronavirus outbreak in the country was not enough, Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat believed to have been afflicted by the infection, who were painstakingly identified by the authorities, were today found spitting on the roads while they were being transported in buses from Nizamuddin for their treatment.

As per an AajTak report, an official who was monitoring the transportation of suspected COVID-19 cases from Markaz Nizamuddin, the Delhi headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat, claimed that the Muslim clerics in the bus were spitting out on the roads of Delhi, potentially spreading the virus in other areas of Delhi. In order to avoid the spread of the virus, the official then ordered the Muslim clerics to shut the bus windows.

Earlier yesterday, the role of Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus across numerous states of India had come to light. Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat organised a congregation in violation of the government’s lockdown orders, providing a conducive environment for the novel coronavirus to proliferate. As per conservative estimates, the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat was attended by 1500 people, both from various parts of the country as well as from abroad.

Since then, Nizamuddin Basti, where the Jamaat event was held, has emerged as one of the most irrepressible clusters of the coronavirus in the country. Several cases from different parts of the country linked with the visit to the congregation have now come to the fore. As of now, 10 people who attended the event have died of COVID-19, with 300 hospitalised for exhibiting symptoms of the deadly contagion. The hotspot has become a nightmare for the authorities to track and identify potential vectors of the pathogen that causes COVID-19.

As India fights Covid-19, here is a list of prominent Hindu Temples and religious leaders helping India through donations and welfare

OpIndia Staff
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As India fights Covid-19, here is a list of prominent Hindu Temples and religious leaders helping India through donations and welfare

In times of national crisis, we often hear from liberals and those under the influence of Secularism that it would be better to construct hospitals than Temples. An attempt is made to portray the resources invested in Hindu Temples as a wastage when these resources could have been spent on other avenues. Under ordinary circumstances, apart from hospitals, much hue and cry are raised that the resources could have been allocated to the construction of schools instead.

Despite the fact that the construction of Temples and building schools and hospitals are not mutually exclusive, a dedicated attempt is made in order to guilt-trip Hindus. However, as it turns out, apart from the exhaustive social work that Temples are involved in, during times of crisis, they are at the forefront of making donations to institutions in order to combat the crisis. The Coronavirus pandemic has been no different.

In the wake of the crisis, numerous temples across the country have come forward to contribute generously, both in terms of food and welfare, to help the country. Despite their great contributions, they hardly ever receive the credit and as a consequence, a myth has spread that Hindu Temples do not contribute enough to charity. This, of course, has nothing to do with reality. Therefore, we decided to compile a list of Temples and Hindus associated with prominent Mathas and institutions who have come forward to assist the country in these tough times. This is by no means a comprehensive list as there are numerous small Temples that are contributing to the battle against the Covid-19 in their own way.

Kanchi Muth

The Kanchi Muth has donated Rs. 10 lakhs each to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The Muth said in a statement on the 21st of March, “An amount of Rupees Ten Lakhs each was contributed to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund & Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund on behalf of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam as part of contribution to relief measures and support for those affected by the Corona Virus(Covid-19).” It added, “Kanchi Math representatives handed over the contribution to the CM’s Public Relief Fund to the Chief Minister in Chennai today. A Demand Draft has been sent today to the PM’s Relief Fund. Kanchi Math has been organizing special prayers for relief from this pandemic.”

Mahavir Mandir Trust

The Mahavir Mandir Trust in Patna has donated Rs 1 crore to the CM Relief Fund for fighting Covid-19 pandemic in the state. The Trust’s secretary Acharya Kishore Kunal said: “Our main motive is to strengthen the government’s plan to recover from the catastrophe and provide food to the poor people.”

It is the same trust which had announced in November last year that it would donate Rs 10 crore to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. “We have already allocated Rs 10 crore on behalf of the Mahavir temple Nyas in Patna to be donated to build Ram temple in Ayodhya. Once the construction of the temple begins in Ayodhya, we will donate Rs 10 crore”, Acharya Kishore Kunal had said.

Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir

The non-gazetted staff of the Vaishno Devi Mandir in Jammu and Kashmir donated one day’s worth of their salaries to the state’s relief fund. The gazetted staff donated two days’ worth of their salaries for the same. Furthermore, on the directions of the vice-chairman of the Board, Girish Chandra Murmu, ration kits were distributed among the needy section of the population in Katra Basti. The Shrine Board has also made available its Asshirvaad Complex to the district authorities, which is capable of housing 600 beds.

Mahamaya Mandir Trust

The Mahamaya Mandir Trust in Chhattisgarh has donated Rs. 5,11,000 to the Chief Minister’s relief fund. Furthermore, the Trust has also contributed a sum of Rs. 1,11,000 to the Red Cross Society in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

Somnath Mandir

Shri Somnath Trust has contributed Rs. 1 crore to the Gujarat Chief Minister’s relief fund. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel is the chairman of the trust. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani are members of the trust as well.

Ambaji Mandir

Ambaji Mandir has donated Rs. 1 crore and one lakh to the Gujarat Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. In addition, the Mandir Trust has also begun distributing food packets among those affected the most by the lockdown and has made preparations for their food.

Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust

The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust, Shirdi (Ahmednagar), donated Rs. 51 crore to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund in Maharashtra. In addition, the SSST is providing free food to all patients and their relatives at the Shri Sainath Hospital, Shirdi Orphanages, old age homes, a school for deaf and dumb, destitute and needy, police personnel and others through the Shri Sai Prasadalaya.

Devasthan Management Committee, Kolhapur

The Devasthan Management Committee, Kolhapur, Maharashtra which administers a string of temples, donated Rs 2 crore through the famed Mahalaxmi Temple. “An amount of Rs 1.50 crore has been given to the CMRF, while Rs 50 lakh will go to the Collector for enhancing various medical facilities in the district to tackle Coronavirus,” the Trust”s Assistant Secretary Shivaji Salvi said.

Baba Ramdev

Yoga-Guru Ramdev has announced that he will contribute Rs 25 crore to the PM’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund), which has been set up to combat the Coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, all employees of Patanjali and Ruchi Soya will donate their one day salary to the fund, collectively amounting to Rs. 1.50 crore. Ramdev also said that the premises of two of his institutions in Haridwar and his ashrams in Kolkata, Modinagar (Uttar Pradesh) and Solan (Himachal Pradesh) will be given for the treatment of coronavirus patients. About 1500 patients can be kept in isolation in these facilities combined. The food will be provided by Patanjali.

Swaminarayan Temples

Seven Swaminarayan Temples across Gujarat cumulatively contributed a total of Rs. 1.88 crore. Furthermore, food is being distributed and five hundred rooms have been provided for isolation by various Temples run by the Vadtal Swaminarayan Temples across Gujarat.

Mannargudi Jeeyar Swami

Jeeyar Swami, who is camping at Srirangam, is operating with a small staff of 2 people and gets food cooked on contract. As of now, he is getting food cooked for 200 people at the Matham’s premises and uses his personal vehicle to travel and distribute food. Sri Chendalankara Sampath Kumara Ramanuja Jeeyar is a Sri Vaishnava sannyasi and the pontiff of the Mannargudi Chendalakara Shenbaka Mannar Matha. Pontiffs of Sri Vaishnava Mathas are referred to by the title ‘Jeeyar Swamigal’. Jeeyar Swamigal is popularly known as the Mannargudi Jeeyar, after the town the Matah operates out of.

With the budget of Rs 1.5 lakhs, Swami reckons that he could help at least 200 people tide over this period of lockdown without going hungry. According to him, a plate of fresh rice and sambar or puliyodarai or curd rice can be served to 200 people, twice a day at an average cost of 17.5 rupees per plate. This includes cost of rice, tamarind, pulses, vegetables, staff salaries, packing material.

Rani Sati Mandir

The district authorities of Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan have built isolation facilities in 200 rooms of the Rani Sati Mandir in the district. Those suspected of being infected with the Coronavirus have been shifted here. The decision was taken after four people had tested positive for the virus the previous week.

Shri Mata Mansa Devi Temple

On 21st April, the Shri Mata Mansi Devi temple in Panchkula in Haryana donated Rs 10 crore to the Haryana Corona relief fund.

Bigoted NGO in Karachi denies food to impoverished Pakistani Hindus and Christians, amidst Coronavirus outbreak

OpIndia Staff
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Bigoted NGO in Karachi denies food to impoverished Pakistani Hindus and Christians, amidst Coronavirus outbreak

Amidst the outbreak of Wuhan Coronavirus that has infected over 1800 people and claimed 25 lives in Pakistan, a heart-breaking story of blatant discrimination against Pakistani Hindus has come to light. The Sindh Government had issued orders to local NGOs to distribute ration to poor daily-wage workers and labourers. However, the Hindus and Christians were singled out and denied their fair share of the ration by a Karachi-based NGO, Saylani Welfare Trust.

The Pakistani Hindus and Christians, most of who are daily wage workers, had gathered at Rehri Goth in Karachi to receive essential supplies. They were informed that the ration was meant only for Muslims and the minority were asked to go back. Moreover, no screening was done for the 3000 odd people who had gathered to receive ration. Similar treatment has been meted out to Hindus in Liyari, Sachal Ghoth and other parts of Sindh.

Read: RSS comes to the rescue of Pakistani Hindus amidst Coronavirus lockdown: Here are some pictures

An activist from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir(POK), Amjad Ayub Mirza, has appealed to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, to send food supplies via Rajasthan to Sindh as the Pakistani Hindus are faced with acute food shortage.

While condemning the incident, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said, “This is against the basic Human Rights principle, minorities would die of hunger in Pakistan. PM Imran Khan is requested to ensure the well-being of Hindus and Sikhs during the crisis of Coronavirus.”

The Governor of Sindh, Imran Ismail, who reportedly reviewed the distribution process lauded the initiatives of the Saylani Welfare Trust that had refused food to the minority workers.

Coronavirus: 107 people from Madhya Pradesh attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, 17 new cases of COVID-19 infection today

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: 107 people from Madhya Pradesh attended Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, 17 new cases of COVID-19 infection today

107 people from Madhya Pradesh had reportedly participated in the religious congregation organised earlier in March by Tablighi Jamaat at Banglewali Masjid in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area. On Tuesday, 17 people in Madhya Pradesh have tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus. This has taken the number of live cases to 66 in the state. As of today, the global pandemic has claimed 5 lives in Madhya Pradesh.

The role of Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus across numerous states of India has come to light. At least ten people have died thus far after attending an Islamic religious event organized by the Islamic missionary organization in Markaz, Nizamuddin at the national capital. India is not the only country affected by the recklessness of the Tableeghi Jamaat. Other South Asian countries are bearing the brunt of it as well. The radical Islamist organisation‘s blatant disregard for guidelines and orders amidst a global pandemic has created a massive surge in coronavirus cases in Asia.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain informed on Tuesday that as many as 24 people who had attended the religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Banglewali Masjid in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area have tested positive for the deadly Wuhan coronavirus as of now.

Meanwhile, Delhi Minister has also informed that while the Delhi government is not clear on the total number of participants, the number of people who might have taken part in the religious meeting held in Nizamuddin could be between 1500 and 1700. Of these, 1033 people had been evacuated while 334 ha been sent to hospitals. Around 700 people had been kept under quarantine in a government-run facility.

As per policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by the Government of India, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display/pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed for tourist visa holders. Almost 800 such Islamic preachers from foreign nations, who attended the event, may now be blacklisted for flouting the visa rules.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police have stated that it is conducting a search operation for the 157 people of the state who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat event at Markaz Mosque at Nizamuddin in South Delhi.

Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh writes to EAM Jaishankar, says India should sue China for the coronavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Congress MLA from Arunachal Pradesh writes to EAM Jaishankar, says India should sue China for the coronavirus pandemic

Ninong Ering, a Congress MLA from Arunanchal Pradesh has written to Minister of external affairs S Jaishankar suggesting the government of India to put up a case against China in an international forum like International Court of Justice and ask for compensation to the tune of 22 billion US dollar.

The letter reads, “Government of India must put up a case in the international forum like International Court of Justice against China for Bio-war and ask for compensation to the tune of 22 Billion US dollars.” The letter further states, “India must unite with other nations on this and also demand an international investigation on Wuhan coronavirus in China.”

The number of Coronavirus cases in India has reached a distressing mark of 1415 cases while 48 people have succumbed to the disease so far. The Wuhan coronavirus had turned into a global concern and was termed as a pandemic by the WHO after it hit hard the middle east and the western countries where the hundreds of casualties are still being reported in a day.

Around 788,000 positive cases have been reported worldwide while 37,877 people have died.

Islamists on Twitter come out in support of Tablighi Jamaat, the latest hotspot of coronavirus outbreak in India

OpIndia Staff
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Islamists on Twitter come out in support of Tablighi Jamaat, the latest hotspot of coronavirus outbreak in India

In the crosshairs for organising a massive congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in flagrant violation of the lockdown restrictions amidst the coronavirus outbreak, Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni evangelist group, however, is receiving considerable support on Twitter by a large number of fanatic Muslims who have rallied behind the Jamaat even as the government agencies are struggling to trace and control the damage inflicted by people who attended the function.

One Twitter user who goes by the name Faheem gloated that he supported rabid evangelist Zakir Naik and said that he would also extend his unconditional support to Tablighi Jamaat.

Another Twitter user, Shaikh Talha Gulbargavi concurred with Faheem, reiterating his support for Zakir Naik and Tablighi Jamaat.

Others too echoed similar sentiments of determined support for the proselytising Islamist group Tablighi Jamaat.

Some even thought that the reportage on Nizamuddin in Delhi emerging as hotspot for coronavirus due to Tablighi Jamaat is ‘Islamophobia’. Some even claimed that the Jamaatis were following the “law”.

These rabid fundamentalists who have extended their unapologetic support to the beleaguered Tablighi Jamaat, knowingly fully well that the evangelist group has emerged as a hotspot and its patrons as super-spreaders of coronavirus, shows that for a large section of rabid Muslims, faith takes precedence over general public health concern and the law of the land.

Nizamuddin Basti, where the Jamaat event was held, has emerged as one of the most irrepressible clusters of the coronavirus in the country. Several cases from different parts of the country linked with the visit to the congregation have now come to the fore. As per conservative estimates, the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat was attended by 1500 people, both from various parts of the country as well as from abroad. As of now, 10 people who attended the event have died of COVID-19, with 300 hospitalised for exhibiting symptoms of the deadly contagion. The hotspot has become a nightmare for the authorities to track and identify potential vectors of the pathogen that causes COVID-19.

However, while the number of COVID-19 cases associated with the Tablighi Jamaat event is steadily rising, many of the fanatic Muslims on Twitter have sworn their allegiance to Tablighi Jamaat and extended their unwavering loyalty to the group which is increasingly coming under attack by people for its blatant disregard of government restrictions and perverse desire of deliberately risking public health system.

The total number of coronavirus cases has dramatically risen to 1360, with the biggest spike in a single day witnessed yesterday when 230 positive COVID-19 cases were reported. The sudden and alarming surge in the coronavirus cases in the country, to a large extent, is attributed to the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat where people already infected of the virus is said to have transmitted the contagion to a host of other attendees.

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