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โ€œCo-operate with the administrationโ€, absconding Tablighi Chief Maulana Saad has a message for his followers

OpIndia Staff
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โ€œCo-operate with the administrationโ€, absconding Tablighi Chief Maulana Saad has a message for his followers

On Sunday, Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, the Tablighi Jamaat Chief who has been on the run from the law enforcement, released an audio clip wherein he urged the Tablighi Jamaat members to cooperate with the administration and health officials during quarantine and Coronavirus testing.

Interestingly, Saad was responsible for organising the religious congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz which was attended by more than 3400 jamaatis. According to the Tablighi Jamaat Chief, the epidemic is, in fact, the result of people distancing themselves from their Creator.

Saad added, “It is important to get treated after contracting a disease. Take care of your neighbours. Ensure that none sleeps hungry. Help others as per your capacity.” He further emphasised, “If we exhibit brotherhood and treat others humanely, then, our creator Allah will have mercy upon us.”

It must be noted that in a sermon on March 23, Saad instigated Muslims to defy the lockdown. He said, โ€œThis is the time to fill the mosques. I have been saying this since the beginning that this is the time to fill up the mosques. Do not come into the talks to empty the mosques. In fact, it is time to increase the mosques.โ€

Maulana Saad on the run

The Tablighi Jamaat chief is still absconding. The Delhi Police crime branch had sent two notices to Maulana Saad under Section 91 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The police have asked Maulana Saad to provide some documents. The second notice was sent after the first notice was found โ€œunsatisfactoryโ€. While Maulana remained untraceable Delhi police slapped another notice with 36 questions at his farmhouse in Shamli near Delhi.

There were reports that the head of the Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Saad, who claims to have quarantined himself in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak was reportedly using his time to gather support and mobilise the Jamaatis. Saad, a resident of Zakir Nagar is allegedly hiding on the outskirts of Delhi at a supporterโ€™s house. Reportedly, the Islamic cleric had hidden in a densely populated area, knowing well that it could help evade arrest. 

Charges of Culpable Homicide, Money Laundering

On March 31, the Delhi police had registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Maulana Saad under the Epidemics Act 1897 for allowing religious congregation in the month of March, despite repeated warnings from the center and the state government. On Wednesday, the Tablighi Jamaat Chief was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On April 16, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a money laundering case against the Maulana Saad and nine others under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) based on predicate offence that was registered by Delhi police. The agency had begun investigating the trust and the transactions of the trust that belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat chief.

Coronavirus Spread in India- With and without the Tablighi Jamaat incident: A quantitative estimation

Guest Author
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Coronavirus Spread in India- With and without the Tablighi Jamaat incident: A quantitative estimation

We are now witnessing the spread of COVID-19 pandemic arising from the novel Coronavirus. Several countries are battling this disease adopting a multi-pronged approach. The primary focus in all the countries has been to flatten the curve so that their medical infrastructure can handle the number of infected people. Discovery of a vaccine against this virus, newer and faster ways of detecting this virus, and curbing the spread of this infection are being taken up in war footing manner in our country too. In this direction, the government of India have been taking several diverse yet focussed measures and declaring a countrywide lockdown for duration of 14 hours Janata curfew on March 22, 2020 by when 396 cases were detected positive for the novel coronavirus in India.  This was followed by a countrywide lock-down from 24/03/2020 initially announced till 14/04/2020. Furthermore, the government has extended this lock-down till 03/05/2020 with a review on 20/04/2020. This has been a very bold, well-planned and strategic step taken by our government with the sole aim of containing the spread of COVID-19 despite the possible deleterious effect of the lock-down on our economy.

Unfortunately, there have been few unprecedented activities that have severely affected the social distancing pattern anticipated during this lock-down period. The congregation of thousands of people at Markaz Nizamuddin Mosque in Delhi during March 13-15, 2020 followed by the attendeesโ€™, hereinafter referred to as the Jamaats, movement and clandestine activities have proved to be detrimental in containing the spread of this infection. This has been a major source of a disruptor in the social distancing pattern during the first phase of lock-down in our country. It must be noted that the news about Jamaats and they showing positive for the infection started emerging not before 01/04/2020.    

In this work our aim is to quantify the effect of jamaats in disrupting the social distancing pattern. We study the change in social contact structures throughout the timeline of the lock-down 1.0 (first phase of lock-down from 23rd March to 14th April).

Mathematics and the algorithm used

We used a modified version SIR (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered) epidemic model. Modification to this model was brought in by coupling it with a machine learning algorithm that estimates the value of the parameters through the previous data of the country and thereby not merely assuming the parameters a priori. This epidemic model predicts the spread of the coronavirus infection.

Without getting into the technicalities, it would suffice to state that the parameter of significance here is ฮฒ. This parameter directly gives an estimation of the social contact structure of this pandemic. Naturally, the social contact structure is specific to the specific country, and so is ฮฒ. The parameter obviously changes with the social distancing pattern and hence is expected to be different during and before the lock-down. Through this parameter, we quantify any disruptions in social distancing pattern, like the Tablighi jamaat incident.

Read- How to debate the Tablighi Jamaat issue around Coronavirus with โ€˜liberalโ€™ idiots

Using the above-mentioned method, besides taking cognizance of reality, we simulate a hypothetical situation by assuming that the jamaat incident did not happen at all. In the following paragraphs, we depict the results and the inferences drawn thereof. Please note that the congregation had happened in the middle of March and that the incubation period of this virus, that is the number of days between contracting the virus and showing symptoms, is around 6 days. But as mentioned above it is only after 1st April 2020 that news about the Jamaats started emerging and they were traced and tested causing a sudden spike in the number of infected cases in our country. This clearly shows that the Jamaats did not come forth for getting tested in the first week of the lock-down 1.0 lest the number would have spiked early on, between March 23 and 30. Hence in our analysis, which is aimed at quantifying the impact of the Jamaats, it is only the period from 01/04/2020 till 14/04/2020 that is of significance and hence we focus only on this period.

Scenario 1: Assuming No Tablighi Jamaat incident

Figure 1a shows the predictions of our model where the jamaat incident is taken into account.ย  The grey dots in the figure are the actual data (taken from the health ministry website) and the blue line is the outcome of our modelling. The same is magnified with an appropriate scale in the Y-axis in Figure 1b. The orange line in Figure 1aย  is the projection of cases in the absence of any lock-down.

Figure 1a: Predictions of our model in the presence and absence of the lock-down, without considering the Jamaat incident
Figure 1b: Actual data and our prediction for number of cases under lock-down but without considering the Jamaat incident

From the magnified figure (1b) it is clear that the coronavirus positive numbers predicted by our model vary significantly from the actual data. In fact, they are much lower than the actual data. This is because the parameter beta is obtained from the data between March 23 and 30. The actual data is indeed more because of the Jamaat incident. Actual data reveals that there are around 11,500 cases as of 14/04/2020 whereas our model predicts it to be around 7000 (without the Jamaat incident). Herein we show that around 40% of cases have been contributed directly by the Jamaat incident.

In a pandemic where one infected person has the potential to infect hundreds of people, a difference of 4500 cases will have a huge outcome over the results that hold for India.

The orange trend line in the above figure is the prediction of number of cases in the absence of both the Jamaat incident and lock-down. We would have touched an appalling figure of 1 lakh cases by 14/04/2020, a number which would have bled our medical infrastructure making some irreparable losses to the country.

Scenario 2: Reality: Taking the Tablighi Jamaat incident into account

Now we present the results of our predictions for the real situation by taking the Jamaat incident into account in figures 2a and 2b. These results are to demonstrate both the robustness of our model as well as to analyse the effect of the country-wide lock-down announced by our government as a measure of social distancing and thereby contain the spread of the disease. Like before, Figure 2b is the magnification of a portion of Figure 2a. The orange trend line in 2a indicates that in the absence of lockdown and given the Jamaat impact, the number of cases in our country would have been nearly 3,40,000 by April 14, 2020.

Surely this is very different from the actual number of 11,500 cases which is squarely attributable to the country-wide lock-down. It must be noted that this number of 3.4 lakhs cases is less than half of 8.2 lakh coronavirus cases predicted by ICMR. This difference is possibly arising due to the difference in the underlying models. The numbers have been quite different from our own predictions when we had employed a different model.ย  Figure 2b clearly shows that the model developed by us and used for the prediction is indeed robust as the predictions have an excellent agreement with the actual data. So, even if the lockdown didnโ€™t completely halt the COVID 19 cases in India, it saved the health care system in India from breaking.

Figure 2a: Predictions of our model in the presence and absence of the lock-down.
Figure 2b: Actual data and our prediction for number of cases under lock-down and considering the Jamaat incident

Though the number of cases today, owing to the Tablighi Jamaat incident, is high, lockdown still was effective in saving India from a community transfer.

Disruption in the social contact structure through the timeline

Finally, we would like to present the variation in the parameter beta for India. This reflects the change in the social contact patterns. Beta values presented here are learnt from a week-long duration of data. The lower value of beta directly corresponds to a lower number of positively infected cases and vice versa. We see that the beta value spiked up to 0.3031 in the first week of April, owing to the Jamaat incident. Subsequently, owing to the restricted social contacting pattern through lock-down the value of beta then dropped to 0.2526. This trend once again reinforces the deleterious impact of the Jamaat incident.

Figure 3: Trend of Beta over different points in time.

Summary

 No JamaatJamaat
Lock-down7,00011,500
No Lock-down1,00,0003,40,000
Positive cases as for 14/04/2020

We summarise the quantification of the Jamaat incident in the matrix above where the numbers indicate the number of positive cases as for 14/04/2020.

Authors: Jay Naresh Dhanwant and V. Ramanathan, Department of Chemistry, IIT (BHU), Varanasi

Meerut: Kashif Ali, who had made viral video of people defying lockdown, apologizes for it, says he regrets making the video

OpIndia Staff
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Meerut: Kashif Ali, who had made viral video of people defying lockdown, apologizes for it, says he regrets making the video

An unusual video went viral on social media recently where one person could be seen informing his audience how the lockdown was having no impact in a particular area and narrating how grapes were available in the market and so were shows. The person appeared jubilant that people continued to crowd the streets defying the lockdown. The video caused outrage on social media and people were horrified by the threat the open defiance of norms posed to public health. The video is apparently from Meerut.

Now, Meerut Police has released a clip of the man who was giving his audience a guided tour of the defiance of lockdown norms. The man is apparently named Kashif Ali and he narrated his history of trouble with the Police on social media. He says that a long time ago, he was visited by the Police at his home in Mumbai due to some misunderstanding. He had abused the Police and when he came to Meerut, he realized his mistake and submitted a written apology over the matter.

A few days earlier, when the lockdown was being enforced, his brother’s phone store was shut down by the Police due to which he was aggrieved. It was following this incident that he made the video that went viral on social media. He said that he regrets it and apologized for it.

The Police across the country has had to deal with a great many lockdown violators who have made the task of the Police extremely difficult in this times of crisis. While Kashif Ali here was not violent, there have been numerous other occasions when the Police and medical teams had to suffer violence during the lockdown.

Ambedkarnagar Police busts fake news spread by UP Congress, Samajwadi Party and others regarding death of young boy Rizwan amidst coronavirus lockdown

OpIndia Staff
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Ambedkarnagar Police busts fake news spread by UP Congress, Samajwadi Party and others regarding death of young boy Rizwan amidst coronavirus lockdown

Ambedkarnagar Police has refuted claims made on social media that one Rizwan Ahmad was ‘beaten to death’ by the Police. In its rebuttal, the Uttar Pradesh Police has quoted the family doctor of the deceased saying that the deceased was brought to his attention by a relative of the person a few days earlier. The doctor, Abdul Hakeem, was told by the relative that Rizwan was injured when he fell off his motorcycle and he prescribed him some first aid medicines. When the doctor saw him next, he saw that his feet were swollen and he suspected some infection. He suggested that the family take the deceased somewhere he could receive more critical treatment.

The family doctor also said that when he had visited Rizwan’s home, he had asked them how does he sit on motorcycles that he was injured so grievously but no one said that he was beaten by the Police or anything. He also said that it was said by people that Rizwan Ahmad consumed drugs such as charas and was extremely thin. He also said that Rizwan had been turned out of his house by his father and made a living by selling vegetables. The doctor also said that it is very possible that he died due to the wound he suffered.

Ambedkarnagar Police has also said in a statement that the post mortem conducted on the corpse did not show any wound caused by lathi. The post mortem report found infection in the heart and lungs of the deceased. The statement also said that the wound had been caused due to his fall from a motorcycle. It also appealed to people to not spread false claims on the matter any further.

Source: Ambedkarnagar Police/Twitter

Fake news on death of Rizwan Ahmad

The fake news was spread by numerous prominent entities on social media including the verified handles of UP Congress and the Samajwadi Party. The claims have now been refuted by the Ambedkarnagar Police but the tweets were not deleted as of the time of writing this report.

Source: Twitter

The Telegraph, too, published the fake news where it claimed that Mohammed Rizwan was beaten up trying to buy food. The far-left propagandist media outlet, which is a known purveyor of fake news, claimed that Rizwan Ahmad became “the first fatality from purported police high-handedness in enforcing the lockdown in Uttar Pradesh.”

Source: The Telegraph

Another troll, Asif Khan, also made the false claim citing a report by The Hindu which claimed that “Rizwan Ahmed, 22, a daily wage worker, died in U.P.โ€™s Ambedkar Nagar district on Saturday three days after he was allegedly thrashed by police when he stepped out during the lockdown period.”

Source: Twitter

As has become clear by this point, the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic is also accompanied by a Fake News epidemic aided actively by the mainstream media. Even in the midst of a global crisis, the media has demonstrated amply that it will not abandon its penchant for spreading fake news and panic to achieve its partisan political objectives. The recent death of Rizwan that sparked the latest outbreak of fake news, which has now been busted by the Ambedkarnagar Police, is the latest example of it.

Victory over coronavirus: After Arunachal Pradesh, Goa becomes free from COVID-19 as all patients recover

OpIndia Staff
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Victory over coronavirus: After Arunachal Pradesh, Goa becomes free from COVID-19 as all patients recover

After Arunachal Pradesh, Goa has become the second state to declare itself ‘coronavirus-free’ in the country.

Taking it to Twitter, Goa Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said it was a moment of satisfaction and relief for Goa after last active coronavirus case tests negative. The chief minister added that there was no new positive case in Goa after 3rd April 2020.

The data released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had stated that only seven cases of coronavirus were reported from Goa. North Goa had the highest number of coronavirus cases at 6 confirmed infections. Thankfully, as of now, all seven have recovered in Goa.

North-East not far behind

Similar to Goa, the North-East of the country is also not behind in limiting the Chinese pandemic. There are no fresh cases in 7 of 8 north-east states in the last 24 hours. Sikkim has been the clear winner, with zero positive cases so far.

Arunachal Pradesh has also become another state to go corona-free after one person who tested positive recovered on 16th April, 2020. Meanwhile, Mizoram had reported only one case each followed by Tripura with only two cases.ย One patient in Tripura has also recovered.

How fake news about โ€˜intoleranceโ€™ inspires attacks on essential workers

Abhishek Banerjee
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How fake news about โ€˜intoleranceโ€™ inspires attacks on essential workers

With the raging Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic, our society needs its essential workers more than ever. Our police, our doctors, nurses, sanitation workers and the like. Without them, the nation would stand no chance. While we stay at home, they go out on the roads every day, possibly risking their lives in the process.

Not surprisingly, we have seen heartening videos on social media of common citizens expressing their gratitude. Going up to them, handing them something nice and cold to drink. Trying to keep them in high spirits. Donโ€™t forget that the brutal Indian summer has already begun.

But not everyone is like that.

Untitled
Sanitation workers attacked in MP

In Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, some workers were out sanitizing the area when they wereย attackedย by a group โ€œarmed with sticks, rods and axes โ€“ surrounded them. Before the sanitation workers could comprehend anything, the gang attacked them. While most of the workers managed to escape unhurt, one of them sustained critical injury in hand after being hit by an axe.โ€

Imagine that. A sanitation worker hit on the hand with an axe! Now, who would do something like that?

Allegedly, a mob led by a man called Adil.

And what great purpose was Adil hoping to accomplish with his dastardly act? This report from India Today gives us a hint.

Untitled
Sanitation workers attacked in MP’s Dewas

โ€œLocals.โ€ Hmmmโ€ฆ From theย article.

โ€œAadil, his father Habib and cleric Gop Khan, who allegedly instigated the attack, were arrested on Friday, while Aadilโ€™s brother Arif was nabbed on Saturday, Chourasia said.

During interrogation, Aadil claimed that he indulged in violence as Gop Khan had told them that since the lockdown, namaazees and followers of the Tablighi Jamaat were hounded by government workers, the ASP said.โ€

In other words, this is the bitter harvest of the hatred that Indian liberals have been diligently sowing among Indiaโ€™s Muslim minority for the last six months now. They had been simmering it on a low flame for five years with the wildly exaggerated โ€œlynchistanโ€ narrative. It was set to boiling point when widespread hysteria was engineered over the CAA and the yet to exist NRC! And now we are living in this alternate reality where the Tablighi Jamaat are being touted as victims of some great atrocity by the government.

Itโ€™s a fact that approximately 30% of all confirmed cases of Wuhan Coronavirus in India so far can be traced to a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat. And even if some people make the excuse that they were too poorly educated to know better (despite 60 years of supposedly โ€˜secularโ€™ rule by their alleged well wishers), nothing can excuse the subsequent behavior: spitting, pelting stones on doctors and cops, misbehaving with nurses and so on.

But in the upside down world of Indian liberalism, myth rules over reality. Eminent liberals have gone to comical lengths to give clean chits to the Jamaat. Some even cited their claims of religious piety and said they couldnโ€™t possibly molest a woman or commit any other kind of crime. Yes, when has it ever happened that members of a conservative religious group have engaged in any kind of criminal behavior?

These conspiracy theories were invented to defame India. I understand that they sell like hot cakes on the global media scene. But at home, these conspiracy theories are wreaking havoc on the psyche of Indiaโ€™s minorities. As if the paranoia over CAA and NRC and โ€˜lynchistanโ€™ were not enough.

It is beginning to some people like Adil over the edge. Making them so crazy that they are now out with axes to hit sanitation workers. Because everything seems like a conspiracy now; the virus, the quarantine, everything.

Thereโ€™s no โ€˜lynchistan.โ€™ Neither is there a draft of NRC. But many folks like Adil have been tutored to fear it. Now, they donโ€™t even know what is real any more. And many have stopped caring. They are living in a state of mortal fear. And irrational fear.

The incident in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh is not isolated. Few weeks ago, doctors trying to enter possible hotspots of the virus in Indore were pelted with stones. Reports of a similar nature have poured in from across the country : Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, everywhere. In each of these cases, the culprit is the same : irrational fear, provoked by a fake intolerance narrative.

We are at a fateful moment in our nationโ€™s history. We require the cooperation of every single individual to make the fight against the Wuhan Coronavirus a success. But at every step, essential workers like doctors, cops, nurses, etc have found themselves stonewalled by groups of people acting out of irrational fear. Who sowed this fear? Who has been earning big bucks by marketing the intolerance narrative all around the world? This time their personal fortunes are literally coming at the cost of the nation and perhaps even all of humanity. For the love of humanity, STOP!

Okay, that appeal definitely wonโ€™t work with them. How about I put this differently? India has 1.3 billion people. If India fails to stop the virus, the rest of the world is toast along with us. You can then forget about those big bucks from abroad. For the future of your own bank account, STOP!

Pakistan lifts ban on mass prayers at mosques during Ramzan, allows conditional congregations amid Cornavirus pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistan lifts ban on mass prayers at mosques during Ramzan, allows conditional congregations amid Cornavirus pandemic

On Saturday, Pakistani President Arif Alvi announced that restrictions on mosque gatherings will be lifted during the month of Ramzan. The decision was taken following a meeting with political representatives and Islamic clerics.

The Imran Khan-led-Government which earlier allowed only a congregation of 5 people at one time in a mosque, owing to the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus, had to give in to the mounting pressure of the radical Islamic preachers. Pakistan has the second-largest Mulsim population in the world with 19.4 crore followers.

Guidelines issued by Pakistan Government

However, the Government has reiterated the mandatory use of protective masks and adherence to social distancing guidelines during Ramzan prayers. The mosque visitors have been asked to maintain a distance of 2 metres while the administration has been directed to disinfect the mosques every day. Reportedly, the Pakistani Government had warned to tighten the restriction if people were found violating the guidelines.

Minors and those above the age of 50 are barred from entering the mosques. Special prayers (Taraweeh) can only be conducted within the mosque premises and not on roads or footpaths. Worshippers have also been asked to avoid shaking hands with each other. As of April 19, the deadly Chinese virus has infected 7,993 people and had claimed 159 lives in Pakistan

Warning Issued by Islamic Clerics

Earlier, a group of over 50 senior clerics in Pakistan had issued a stern warning to the Imran Khan-led government against the ban on religious congregations during the coronavirus outbreak. The Islamic clerics had said the authorities should instead abide by religious norms and allow more worshippers in mosques to seek forgiveness from Allah and to beat the coronavirus.

Despite the governmentโ€™s warning not to assemble, more than 53 senior clerics of Rawalpindi and Islamabad belonging to the Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia on Monday held a meeting in Jamia Darul Uloom Zakria to discuss the ban on prayer congregations. Representatives from the Jamiat-e-ulema Islam, Jamiat-e-ulema Pakistan, Jamaat-i-Islami and Tanzeem-e-Islami and many other religious parties had also attended.

Other Islamic countries extend ban in Ramzan

While Pakistan has relented to the demands of Muslim clerics, other Islamic countries have extended the ban on gathering in mosques during the Ramzan. Saudi Arabia has said that the ban will continue until the Coronavirus pandemic is over. Given the Saudi govt order, the Saudi grand mufti has asked the devotees to offer the Ramzan’s Taraweeh (evening) prayer at homes. He also said that theย subsequent Eid al-Fitr feast should be performed at home if the coronavirus outbreak continues till that time.

Other Islamic countries like Jordan, Egypt etc have also issued similar orders banning gathering of crowd at mosques during the month of Ramzan, while Iran is also likely to issue a similar order soon.

Congress targets Modi govt over allowing e-commerce sale while its own state govt allowed sale of non-essential goods on e-commerce platforms

OpIndia Staff
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Congress targets Modi govt over allowing e-commerce sale while its own state govt allowed sale of non-essential goods on e-commerce platforms

The Congress party on Saturday accused Modi government of denying a level playing field for the traditional traders by allowing e-commerce to deliver essential and non-essential goods even as retail shops for non-essential items are shut across the country due to the corona lockdown.

The Congress targetted the Modi government after the government had issued detailed guidelines allowing e-commerce companies to start their operations amidst nationwide lockdown. Speaking to reporters, senior party leader Ajay Makenย asked the government to clarify on the new e-commerce guidelines while accusingย MHA guidelines of limited economic activities denied a level playing field for the traditional traders.

Union govt’s order on e-commerce operations

On April 15, the MHA had issued guidelines that they could start delivering goods, both essential and non-essential goods from April 20.

Under the first phase of lockdown between March 24 and April 14, the Centre had only allowed delivery of essential goods, including food, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment through e-commerce platforms. However, the nationwide lockdown in India initially meant for a period of 21 days, was extended till May 3 as coronavirus cases in the country continued to rise.

The government had allowed all deliveries beginning Monday even though the coronavirus lockdown was extended till May 3. 

Revised order issued by MHA

However, the Modi government in another notification released on April 19 said that supply of non-essential goods by e-commerce companies will remain prohibited after some section of the country raised apprehensions about denying level playing field for small retailers.

A brief order by Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla said, “E-commerce companies (and) vehicles used by e-commerce operators will be allowed to ply with necessary permissions’ – is excluded from the guidelines”. This means that e-commerce companies can’t resume their regular business from 20 April, which was allowed in the earlier order, although they will be allowed to supply essential items like brick and mortar stores. This revised order brings parity between regular and online shops, as now both categories are allowed to sell only essential items and not allowed to sell non-essential items till the lockdown remains in force.

Congress hypocrisy on e-commerce order

Ironically, while the Congress party which accuses Modi government of favouring e-commerce platforms over small retailers, they themselves denied level playing field for retailers in states like Maharashtra and Rajasthan where they are in power. The Congress-ruled states Maharashtra and Rajasthan have, in fact, allowed the opening of e-commerce platforms to deliver even non-essential goods, along with several other states.

As the Union Home Ministry had allowed the opening of e-commerce for all goods in its earlier order, several states had issued relevant notifications allowing e-retailing in non-essential items citing the MHA order. Maharashtra and Rajasthan were among the first states which had issued the notifications, which were followed by Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat etc.

The Maharashtra government in a notification dated April 15 had allowed e-commerce activities including delivery of all goods and commodities like food, pharmaceuticals, electronics and electrical appliances in the state.ย The order had encouraged Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal and other e-commerce companies and logistics firms to operate within the state.

Rajasthan had become the second state after Maharashtra to allow e-commerce firms to fully function and deliver all goods in the state beginning April 20.

Therefore, rather than advising their own governments to ensure a level-playing field by not allowing e-commerce in non-essential items, the Congress party decided to attack the union government in order to score some brownie points.

After the revised MHA order, it is expected that the respected states will also issue revised orders to reflect the same.

The rise and fall of Altaf Shaikh alias ‘brumbyoz’: Rabid anti-Hindu bigot promoted actively by ‘liberals’ on social media and friend to fake news peddler Rana Ayyub

K Bhattacharjee
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The rise and fall of Altaf Shaikh alias ‘brumbyoz’: Rabid anti-Hindu bigot promoted actively by ‘liberals’ on social media and friend to fake news peddler Rana Ayyub

Tywin Lannister, one of the most powerful characters from A Song of Ice and Fire once said, โ€œMen love to blame demons when their grand plans unravel.โ€ Such has been the story of one prominent Hindu hater on Twitter, @brumbyoz, a man who succumbed to the cycle of hate he had unleashed on the social media platform himself. After Hindus in the Middle-East were targeted by a section of Indian Muslims and their cohorts sitting in the other countries, unknown individual(s) had doxxed @brumbyoz himself. If social media is to be believed, @brumbyoz is one Altaf Shaikh from Australia.

@brumbyoz vehemently denies that it is him and claims that Altaf Shaikh is an innocent man who is being hounded by ‘fanatic Sanghis’ simply because they believe it is him. But people on social media are not buying that line of argument. He has since then deactivated his Twitter account. The user who claims to have done it, and goes by the username of @AltafSh34154669, says he did it as an act of vengeance against the Hindus who were persecuted by @brumbyoz and his bunch of rabid Islamist minions.

The user who claims to have doxxed @brumbyoz

For his part, @brumbyoz claims to have left Twitter because he doesn’t want the family, which he claims is entirely unrelated to him, to suffer because of him. Minutes before he left Twitter, he said that if people leave that family alone, he will not return to Twitter ever.

Source: Twitter

According to claims going around on social media, Altaf Shaikh alias @brumbyoz is a resident of Sydney, Australia and works at Southern Cross Care. It is unclear how his personal details became public on social media. It is not even clear whether it was someone from the ‘rightwing’ who doxxed him because there are plenty of people on the Left, including prominent Muslims, who share personal animosity with him due to his hateful nature.

@brumbyoz has had quarrels with numerous people online including prominent handles with a blue tick. It is also known that his identity was known to at least a few people on the social media platform, including a woman with whom he had a bitter fight and a vicious fallout. Thus, it is a very real possibility that his identity was revealed by someone on the Left. Thus far, there is way to know but such a possibility cannot be ruled out.

One of the individuals who appears to have known his identity is ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub, who is an apologist for Radical Islam and a purveyor of Fake News. Interactions between the two from May 2016 shows both of them talking with each other of a meeting between them. Screenshots of the tweets were dug up by people on social media.

Rana Ayyub meeting @brumbyoz. Source: Twitter

@brumbyoz is an Islamist bigot who refers to Hindus as โ€˜cow peopleโ€™ and worse. @brumbyoz has been instrumental in the hate campaign against Hindus living in the Middle East. He calls Islamic countries โ€˜civilizedโ€™ and insults every other country under the Sun as, being the bigot that he is, only Islamic countries can be considered free of โ€˜Jahaalatโ€™. Screenshots of his abusive tweets against Hindus can be found in abundance on social media.

Source: Twitter

It is pertinent to note here that despite his virulent hateful nature, @brumbyoz was feted as an intellectual by the liberal establishment and treated as a hero on social media. Eventually, his hateful nature became evident to those around him and some of them spoke up against him. But this wasn’t before he was molded into an ‘intellectual stalwart’ by liberals despite his vicious hatred against Hindus, or more likely, because of it.

One individual who claimed to be from NDTV, for instance, was begging him to feature on one of their shows. Newslaundry, which claims to be a ‘neutral’ website, offered him a platform in January 2017, when it was public knowledge the kind of vicious bigot he is. In 2014, Times of India published an entire feature on him, waxing eloquence about his wit and humour. All of this is further affirmation of the kind of hatred against Hindus that is completely mainstream in Indian media. Not only is hatred for Hindus tolerated in Indian media, it is actively encouraged.

NDTV inviting Altaf Shaikh alias @brumbyoz on its show.

Of course, there is no way for us to know or verify whether Altaf Shaikh is indeed @brumbyoz. But even if he weren’t the individual whose personal information is circulating on social media, it only goes on to show that there is indeed Karmic punishment in this world and the eyes of Justice are always ever vigilant. And a man who lives by the sword dies by the sword.

@brumbyoz unleashed a wave of hatred against Hindus on social media and actively participated in the persecution of Hindus. And now, the table appears to have turned and it is him who is at the receiving end of it. A dangerous game was unleashed on social media when Hindus in the Middle East were targeted by Muslims such as @brumbyoz and now the debt is being repaid in kind by others. He sowed the wind and is now reaping the whirlwind.

Hopefully, it will serve as a tale of caution to social media users and prompt people to reconsider their conduct on social media. Hopefully, users will also realize that certain lines should never be crossed regardless of the intensity of the hatred for a particular individual. However, as of this moment, it seems to be a fool’s dream. For humans have a tendency of learning essential lessons of life only at a great personal cost.

Coronavirus scare: Gujarat witnesses a surge in the pandemic, 228 new cases detected since last evening

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus scare: Gujarat witnesses a surge in the pandemic, 228 new cases detected since last evening

On Sunday, the Gujarat Health Department informed that the total number of Coronavirus cases in the State had risen to 1,604 while 58 people had lost their lives. 93 people have been discharged so far. About 228 new confirmed cases of the Chinese virus and 5 additionals deaths had been reported since the evening of April 18.

Moreover, 25 districts of the State have been affected by the Wuhan Coronavirus. 158 cases were identified in Vadodara while 153 people in Surat have been diagnosed with the deadly pathogen. The city of Ahmedabad which is the worst-hit now accounts for 50% (862 cases) of the total cases of 1604. So far, 1220 patients are stable while 10 have been put on ventilators.

As per reports, 95% of all cases have been detected in congested areas and slums. This has raised concerns about community transmission (Phase 3) of the Coronavirus outbreak. As such, testing has been increased in the city of Ahmedabad to almost 1000 samples per day. Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi informed that the spike in the number of cases was due to the aggressive testing strategy adopted by the State of Gujarat.

ICMR allows Blood Plasma Therapy Trials in Gujarat

Health officials in the State informed that plasma transfusion can be used to boost the immunity of the critical Coronavirus patients by generating antibodies in the bodies. On Saturday, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) gave its nod to the two hospitals to run plasma therapy trials.

Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra thanked Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani for the intervention that helped SVP hospital get the required approval from the ICMR. He also informed that the donor had been identified and that the plasma donation process had been completed after the consent of the donor was obtained.

Reportedly, 6 such donors had been identified and 3 of them had completed the mandatory 14-day period, following recovery from the Wuhan Coronavirus. According to Jayanti Ravi, one blood plasma donation can be used in the treatment of 4 Coronavirus infected patients. This technique is a viable option for the treatment of critical patients in the absence of drugs and vaccines.

MEA debunks false propaganda over treatment

On Wednesday, the Indian government slammed the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) for falsely criticising the country by citing fake reports that coronavirus patients were being segregated on the basis of religious identity in an Ahmedabad hospital. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs asked the USCIRF to stop adding โ€œreligious colourโ€ to the Indian governmentโ€™s efforts in fighting the Chinese pandemic.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement, โ€œAs if its peremptory commentary on religious freedom in India is not enough, the USCIRF is now spreading misguided reports on the professional medical protocols followed to deal with [the] spread of COVID-19 in India.โ€

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