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Uttar Pradesh: 30 Tablighi Jamaat attendees including Allahabad University Professor arrested in Prayagraj for hiding travel history

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: 30 Tablighi Jamaat attendees including Allahabad University Professor arrested in Prayagraj for hiding travel history

30 people including Tablighi Jamaat attendees, including 16 foreign nationals, who had attended Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz event in March, have been arrested from Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. 7 of these from Indonesia while 9 are from Thailand. As per reports, a case was registered against them two weeks back. As per reports, one of the professors teaching at the Allahabad University had attended the event at Nizamuddin Markaz and upon his return had continued to take classes and was also an invigilator during the exams, putting lives of hundreds of students at risk.

The Allahabad University Professor along with his wife was put under a 14-day quarantine and now that the period has lapsed, he has been formally arrested.

Tablighi Jamaat members hiding in Prayagraj mosques

The Tablighi Jamaat members were reportedly living in two mosques in Prayagraj where they had hidden their travel history. On 31st March, 7 Indonesian nationals along with two others were caught living illegally in a mosque at Katju road in Shahganj. Similarly, 11 Jamaatis including 9 Thailand nationals were found living in a mosque at Kareli in Hera mosque. They had all attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event. A case was registered against them all and they were put on quarantine. Later, Police got a tip that one of the professors at Allahabad University had recently returned from Nizamuddin event and was continuing with his life without informing the authorities. Later he, along with his family, was also put on quarantine.

All 30 are expected to be produced before the court later this afternoon following which they may be jailed. Professor Mohammad Shahid of Allahabad University who was teaching in the science department has been charged with housing the Jamaatis.

Nizamuddin Markaz

The Islamic evangelical event, where Muslims around the world gather to learn to live life as prescribed by Prophet Mohammad, was held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in March this year. The event, which was attended by several foreign nationals, ended up being a hot spot for coronavirus cases in India, contributing to as many as 30% COVID-19 positive cases in India. Tablighi Jamaat members have also been accused of misbehaving with healthcare workers, including molesting nurses and pelting stones at doctors and cops.

Coronavirus scare: 125 families asked to self- isolate after a relative of a female staffer in Rashtrapati Bhavan tests positive

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus scare: 125 families asked to self- isolate after a relative of a female staffer in Rashtrapati Bhavan tests positive

On Monday, 125 families in the Rashtrapati Bhavan were asked to self-isolate after the daughter-in-law of a sanitation worker who lives in the same complex tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus.

Earlier, the mother of the woman’s daughter-in-law had died of the Chinese virus infection and her funeral was attended by all family members. When they were sent for testing, all of them had tested negative, except for the employee’s daughter-in-law. Reportedly, the infected patient has been transferred to a quarantine centre at the Birla Mandir complex.

As such, 25 families that are within the same block of the Rashtrapati Bhavan have been kept under strict isolation while an additional 100 families have also been asked to self-isolate. They are only allowed to step out of the house for procuring groceries while following social distancing norms.

Coronavirus in India

On April 14, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had extended the nationwide lockdown in India till May 3, 2020, after the religious congregation attended by the Tablighi Jamaat members saw a sudden spike in the number of the Wuhan Coronavirus cases. The deadly virus has claimed 590 lives and infected 18,601 people in India so far.

As factories stay shut and vehicles stay off the roads amidst coronavirus lockdown, the water quality of the rivers has improved. Ganga is much cleaner in Kanpur and Varanasi and mountain ranges like Dhauladhar in Himachal Pradesh are visible from Jalandhar, Punjab. 

Profiteering from a pandemic: White House official accuses China of hoarding PPEs and selling them at exorbitant prices

OpIndia Staff
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Profiteering from a pandemic: White House official accuses China of hoarding PPEs and selling them at exorbitant prices

On Monday, a top White House official, Peter Navarro, told Fox Business News that the United States has evidence to prove that China is now selling Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), required by health workers, at exorbitant prices after the Communist-run country had hoarded them in the months of January and February.

This had resulted in an acute shortage of PPEs in countries such as India, Brazil, and Europe. “They bought 18 times more amount of masks. They increased their expenditures of both goggles and gloves”, he alleged.

Calling for a fair investigation into the matter, Navarro said that the behaviour of China is not in accordance with the international order. He said that the lack of sufficient supplies of PPEs has compelled the United States to onshore its production.

“First of all, the virus was spawned in China. Second of all, they hid the virus behind the shield of the WHO. The third thing they did was basically hoard PPEs and now they’re profiteering from it”, Navarro said to Fox News.

China sells donated PPEs to Italy

After selling defective masks and testing kits to the world to combat their home-grown virus, China was accused of selling back the PPEs to Italy which the European country had originally donated as a humanitarian gesture. As reported in Spectator magazine, China had earlier claimed that it will send PPEs to Italy, which has lately emerged as the hot spot for the Chinese coronavirus outbreak, to help it contain it.

However, now the reports reveal that China had sold, and not donated, those PPEs to Italy. Not only that, China actually forced Italy to buy back the same PPEs that Italy had donated to the Communist country.

US threatens retaliation

During a press conference at the White House on Saturday, US President Donald Trump threatened China with “consequences” if it is found that they were “knowingly responsible” for the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus. He added, “It could have been stopped in China before it started and it wasn’t. And now the whole world is suffering because of it. If it was a mistake, a mistake is a mistake. But if they were knowingly responsible, yeah, then there should be consequences.”

Trump emphasised on how the Chinese Government refused to co-operate with the US in dealing with the pandemic. He said that China was perhaps embarrassed about the fact that the virus originated in the country. He also raised questions about the low Chinese figures on Coronavirus-related deaths in the country. Trump reiterated, “The number’s impossible,” he said. “It’s an impossible number to hit.

“An honest Chief Minister son, is my life’s only precious earning”: Late Anand Singh Bisht told Yogi Adityanath’s biographer

Shantanu Gupta
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“An honest Chief Minister son, is my life’s only precious earning”: Late Anand Singh Bisht told Yogi Adityanath’s biographer

On 20th April 2020, Anand Singh Bisht, father of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath took his last breath at AIIMS. In April, of 2017, while I was researching for Yogi Adityanath’s biography, I was fortunate to spend time with Yogi Adityanath’s father, mother and other family members. Those conversations were so real and honest that they are still fresh in my mind. Now, when Anand ji is no more, I want to re-live and share some of those conversations with the readers. Here I am sharing some excerpts from my book –  The Monk Who Became Chief Minister,  of my conversations with Anand ji and his wife Savitri Devi ji. Through these conversations, we can easily peep into many traits and habits of today’s Yogi Adityanath.

What Anand Singh Bisht and Savitri Devi thought of Ajay, today’s Yogi Adityanath?

Talking to me Shri Anand Singh Bisht told that Ajay was always polite and courteous and was an avid newspaper reader right from a very young age. Shri Bisht said that although he was constantly on tours and often away from home, he made it a point to check on his children and gave surprise visits to ensure their diligence and attention to studies. He said that maybe owing to all this today, the Ajay of a small village named Panchur has become Yogi Adityanath, 21st Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. It’s interesting to note that, after becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi and his Ministers have conducted a series of ‘surprise checks’ of delivery of different government services. Shri Bisht was a proud father who felt that managing a state like UP, is not everybody’s cup of tea and only Yogi can control it because since his childhood he has developed a good ability to make decisions. Shri Bisht also told me that Yogi’s work as a Member of Parliament was always for the people and free from any type of corruption and that’s why people love him. He further added that People have started flocking for his sifarish (recommendations) to his son, after he becoming the Chief Minister of UP. He added that he keeps such people at bay by graciously accepting their congratulations and asking them to join him for tea while politely telling them that no recommendations will be entertained. 

Yogi Adityanath’s mother Savitri Devi ji also told me that Ajay was good student and never kept bad company. She said that he was a simple boy and they never realized that he would grow to this stature. She fondly remembered how close he was to her as his father was usually posted at different locations and he was also strict, so all the children were a little scared of him. Regarding their personal habits, Savitri Devi ji said that everyone in their house always woke up early. Even at the age of around 80, (in 2017) she used to wake up at 4 am to finish her chores and then goes to the fields to oversee the small agriculture farms that they have. (In 2017) At 85, Ajay’s father also used to get up at 4 am every day and cleans the whole house and the surrounding compound. Savitri Devi ji said that right from his childhood, Ajay was fond of cows. The Bisht family had cows at home and taking them out to graze was part of Ajay’s routine after school. Pointing to the trees around their house in Panchur, Savitri Devi ji told me that Ajay had planted many of these, when he was a boy. 

Why Yogi Adityanath’s school and college friends were afraid of Anand Singh Bisht ji?

Later in the conversation, Shri Bisht said that as a forest ranger, he has worn a Khakhi dress all his life. His uniform had three stars on the shoulders, which looked like a police uniform, and moreover, his uniform also had a UPF (Uttar Pradesh Forest) badge, which was quite similar to UPP (Uttar Pradesh Police) badge and this sometimes scared Ajay’s friends as they mistook him for a policeman. He laughed and added that now after Ajay has become CM, he has, with him, a full time Khakhi dressed gunman, a real policeman, as part of the security protocol.

When Anand ji and Savitri ji found out that their son has taken Sanyas

After doing his graduation in Kotdwar, Ajay enrolled for Master of Science (MSc) in Mathematics in 1992 from Pandit Lalit Mohan Sharma Government PG College, Rishikesh. While he was in MSc first year, he started visiting Gorakhpur and meeting Mahant Avaidyanath. After a couple of meetings Ajay was convinced about joining Mahant Avaidyanath at the Gorakhnath Mutt as a full time disciple. In November 1993, Ajay left his village, his parents, his friends, and his studies and without disclosing much to anyone in the family, he went to Gorakhpur. On 15th of February 1994, Ajay was anointed as a Nath Panth yogi by his guru Mahant Avaidyanath. 

It was only after couple of months that Ajay’s parents found out from the newspaper about his sanyas. Until then his parents thought that he had gone to Gorakhpur for some employment opportunity. After finding out, Ajay’s parents reached Gorakhpur on the next available train and at the Mutt, Anand Singh Bisht, was shocked to see Ajay in a sanyasi’s attire. Mahant Avaidyanath was out of station that time and Ajay had to calm his parents and made them talk to his guru on phone. Mahant Avaidyanath told Ajay’s father that his son Ajay is Yogi Adityanath now. Mahant Avaidyanath further requested Anand Singh Bisht that of his four sons, one had decided to come with him for nation building and for strengthening Hinduism; and asked him to please allow him to serve the country. After initial resistance his parents gave in.

After couple of months Yogi Adityanath, came back to Panchur village, in Uttarakhand to take Biksha (alms) from his mother, as a part of the Sanyasi tradition. Since then Ajay’s parents have visited Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhnath Mutt couple of times. Now they call him “Maharaj ji’, as others do, respecting the protocol and dignity of his role. Yogi Adityanath has visited his hometown in Uttarakhand only for a few very important functions in the family. Yogi Adityanath has established a college, Mahayogi Guru Gorkhnath College, near his village in Uttarkhand, under the Gorakhpur Mutt’s administration. 

An honest Chief Minister son, is my life’s biggest earning

Concluding the discussion with Ajay’s parents I mentioned that hills of Uttarakhand have given Govind Ballabh Pant, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna and Narayan Dutt Tiwari as Chief Ministers of Uttar Pradesh and now this house has given Yogi Adityanath as the fourth CM for Uttar Pradesh, hailing from the hills. To this, Savita Devi ji proudly recalled that Ajay always wanted to serve the people and now he is doing exactly that. With wet but contended eyes, Anand ji added that he has not earned much in life. What he has earned is an honest Chief Minister son. He added that their lives are blessed as Ajay’s parents and today they are proud of the monk who has become the Chief Minister of such a big state. 

My salute to Anand Singh Bisht ji!

Scroll shares fake claim that children in Bihar are eating frogs due to lack of food, lies busted by DM

OpIndia Staff
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Scroll shares fake claim that children in Bihar are eating frogs due to lack of food, lies busted by DM

Media portal the Scroll.in had shared a video claiming that some children in Bihar’s Jehanabad are forced to survive on frogs because they do not have food to eat during the lockdown.

Scroll.in had shared a video by a Hindi YouTube channel ‘Newsd’ where a group of children say they are eating frogs because they do not have grains due to the lockdown.

Investigation by DM, Jehanabad

Following the propagation of the claim by Scroll, DM of Jehanabad launched an investigation into the issue. Bihar government’s Information and Public Relations Department had shared the information that upon investigation into the claims made by the video, it was found that the children had enough food stored in their homes and none had any reason to catch or eat frogs.

They stated that the video was made by some individuals with a malicious intention to defame the district administration.

PIB called out Scroll

Following the clarification, Government of India’s Press Information Bureau also called out Scroll for sharing the fake and unverified claims.

Shaming Scroll for its attempt to sensationalise a baseless and unverified claim, PIB stated, “Scroll -a prominent media portal has claimed children in Jehanabad, Bihar are eating frogs as they have no food at home. The video has since gone viral. #PIBFactCheck: The claim is false as inquired by Jehanabad DM, there is sufficient food in the homes of the children.”

Following the fact-check, Scroll has since updated its report and mentioned that their claim has been busted by the DM’s investigation.

NDTV’s fake claim that Arunachal tribals are eating snakes due to food scarcity

Yesterday, NDTV had claimed in an article that tribals in Arunachal Pradesh are being forced to hunt snakes to eat because they do not have rice to eat. They had shared a social media video where some tribals were seen posing with a 12-foot king cobra they had ‘hunted’ to eat.

Following NDTV’s claim, union minister and Arunachal Pradesh MP Kiren Rijiju had criticised the irresponsible reportage, stating that the King Cobra is a protected species and no tribals in Arunachal Pradesh hunt snakes for consumption. Rijiju and the Arunachal government also slammed NDTV for sharing fake claims and clarified that there is no scarcity of rice in their state.

Uttar Pradesh: 30-year-old Wajid kills his 2-year-old daughter after black magic healer named Irfan suggested it for maintaining domestic peace

OpIndia Staff
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Uttar Pradesh: 30-year-old Wajid kills his 2-year-old daughter after black magic healer named Irfan suggested it for maintaining domestic peace

30-year-old labourer in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, killed his two-year-old daughter as human sacrifice after his fellow labourer and part-time black magic healer Irfan suggested the same to maintain peace at home. Reportedly, Wajid had discussed his domestic disputes with Irfan, who also worked at the brick kiln along with him. Irfan, the black magic healer, had also suggested a ‘havan’ at his residence.

Wajid worked as a labourer at a brick kiln in Khaikheda in Kakrauli Police station area and lived nearby with his wife Rehana and five children including the murdered two-year-old. Wajid reportedly killed his daughter because she reminded him of his past girlfriend. However, Police thinks that there is a possibility that he murdered her out of frustration as he continuously keeps changing his statements. An FIR has been registered against Wajid and black magic healer Irfan.

Wajid killed his two-year-old daughter

As per reports, his wife Rehana claimed that on Sunday, she had slept with her husband and five children. When she woke up in middle of the night, she found her husband and 2-year-old daughter missing. He returned after some time but the daughter was still missing. After evading the questions for some time, he confessed to killing her.

As per reports, Wajid had domestic disputes and the daughter would not go to him. Hence, on instructions of the black magic healer Irfan, he slit his daughter’s throat and killed her. He later buried her dead body.

Rehana later approached the police and filed a complaint. The police have arrested Wajid and Irfan, both. The body of the little girl has been exhumed and sent for postmortem.

Crimes by black magic healers

In December last year, a woman in Bhopal who was given triple talaq by her husband was raped by a ‘healer’ Alwar Khan on pretext of halala. In October, a ten-year-old boy had died because of a Muslim ‘healer’ but the media gave it a Hindu spin by referring to the ‘healer’ as ‘tantrik’. In general parlance, the Tantrik – practitioner of the “tantra vidya“, is mainly associated with Hinduism, leading to a perception that the crime was committed by a Hindu individual.

‘Shekhar Gupta has been leading the compromise of Indian journalism’: Arnab Goswami resigns from Editors’ Guild on live TV

OpIndia Staff
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‘Shekhar Gupta has been leading the compromise of Indian journalism’: Arnab Goswami resigns from Editors’ Guild on live TV

On Monday, news media baron Arnab Goswami resigned from the Editors Guild of India on live TV, over its diminishing credibility and abject silence. During the course of a debate on the lynching of two Sadhus and a driver in Palghar, he slammed the President of the Guild, Shekhar Gupta, for destroying the remaining credibility of the organisation.

While tendering his resignation as a member of the Editor’s Guild, Goswami remarked, “I’ve been a member of the Editors’ Guild of India for a long time. I hereby on live television resign from the Editors’ Guild of India for its absolute compromise with its editorial ethics.”

He labelled the organisation as a ‘group of has-beens’ and accused it of being a self-serving entity. Moreover, Goswami called out Shekhar Gupta for sheer silence on the Palghar lynching Case and for ‘leading the compromise on Indian journalism’.

Background of the Resignation

The brutal mob lynching of three, including two Sadhus of the Dashnami order in Palghar, Maharashtra has shocked the nation. The sheer depravity of the whole scenario combined with the Policeman’s seeming unwillingness to offer their protection to the deceased has sent shock waves across the country. The incident occurred on the 16th of April 2020. Since then, 110 have been arrested.

As heinous as the crime was, it was another incident where the duplicity of the mainstream media came to light. The duplicitous manner in which the media reports on cases of mob lynching became evident in the wake of the murder of the Sadhus at Palghar.

NCP works with Maoists, Shiv Sena stigmatising Hindus: Ex-Shiv Sena leader slams the Thackerays for treating party as private property

OpIndia Staff
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NCP works with Maoists, Shiv Sena stigmatising Hindus: Ex-Shiv Sena leader slams the Thackerays for treating party as private property

In a surprising incident, on Arnab Goswami’s channel, Republic during the 10 o’clock debate focussing on the Palghar lynching, Shiv Sena spokesperson Vijay Krishna disclosed that he quit the party over differences with Shiv Sena live on television. Dressed in saffron, Vijay Krishna slammed Shiv Sena over the Palghar lynching, called out Aditya Thackeray’s arrogance and even demanded that the NCP, Sharad Pawar led party and the ally of Shiv Sena in the state of Maharashtra, be banned in India.

In the beginning, Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami identifies Krishna as member of ‘Sonia Sena’ instead of Shiv Sena. Later, when he was asked to speak on the Palghar incident and Shiv Sena’s response, Krishna disclosed and gave a disclaimer that he is no longer with the party as he had had quit a week prior.

Vijay Krishna said that Aditya Thackeray, the Shiv Sena scion, had told Vijay Krishna that his opinions do not matter and do not represent the views of Shiv Sena and hence, one week earlier, he has resigned from Shiv Sena. Ahead of Maharashtra elections, Krishna had referred to Aditya Thackeray as ‘miracle leader’.

Vijay Krishna said that Aditya Thackeray thinks that Shiv Sena is his personal property. He also declared on television that he was now against this “Maha Vikrut Aghadi” (Vijay Krishna turned the name of Maha Vikas Aghadi to Maha ‘Vikrut’ Aghadi thereby asserting that the Shiv Sena alliance in Maharashtra with Congress and NCP did not stand for “development” but “deformity”).

Vijay Krishna also made startling revelations. He said the Sharad Pawar approached Uddhav Thackeray to stop the Elgar Parishad cases against the Urban Naxals like Varavara Rao etc. Saying this, he said that he is not afraid to get arrested and demanded the resignation of the Home Minister of Maharashtra, asserting that he works for Maoists.

He also said that Sharad Pawar and his party consider Urban Naxals like Varavara Rao and Gautam Navlakha as “Gandhians”.

He also alleged that there was a conspiracy that needed to be uncovered behind the assassination of these Sadhus in Palghar and it has some connection to Urban Naxals like Navlakha being arrested.

He then threw open a challenge to the Maharashtra government. He said that the government was stigmatising Hindus and he was ready to be arrested for the assertions he had made.

Coronavirus fallout: 1000 foreign firms plan production in India as concerns grow about China, claim reports

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus fallout: 1000 foreign firms plan production in India as concerns grow about China, claim reports

Around a thousand foreign companies are contemplating shifting their manufacturing base to India as the geopolitical and economic repercussions of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic become imminent. The said companies are in discussions with the Indian government and at least 300 of them are actively pursuing production plans in sectors such as mobiles, electronics, medical devices, textiles and synthetic fabric, according to top government sources, reports have claimed.

“About 1,000-odd companies are currently engaged in discussion at various levels such as investment promotion cell, central government departments and state governments. Out of these companies, we are targeting 300-odd companies,” an official was quoted as saying. “We are hopeful that once coronavirus is in control, a lot of things will fructify into actual relocation. And India will emerge as an alternate manufacturing destination. Many countries like Japan, US and South Korea are over-dependent on China and that is now very apparent,” he added.

Will China pay the price for its actions?

It has been evident for sometime now that China, which has been the world’s manufacturing hub for a significant period, might have to pay a heavy price for failing to curb the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. There are also growing concerns that the Wuhan Coronavirus might actually be a bioweapon that was accidentally leaked out of one of the labs in China. Inadequate security protocols at these labs have also come under question.

The USA under its President Donald Trump has been hammering China ever since the it became public knowledge that the Communist government of the country deliberately hid information regarding the actual threat posed by the Wuhan Coronavirus. Donald Trump since then has been calling for manufacturing to return to the United States. Similarly, it was reported that Japan would also assist its companies in shifting their bases from China.

Voices start to grow against China

Germany’s largest Tabloid ‘Bild’ has put together a bill of £130 billion to be paid by China to Germany for economic damages caused due to the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus. Bild created an itemised invoice that included Germany’s lost tourism revenue (€ 27 billion), loss to small businesses (€ 50 billion), loss to the German film industry(€ 7.2 billion), and loss to Lufthansa airlines (€ 1 million/ hour). The total bill to be paid by China thus amounted to a total of € 149 billion (£130 billion).

In an interview with the Financial Times, French President Emmanuel Macron said it is ‘naive’ to say that China dealt better with coronavirus. On being asked that China’s authoritarian response to control the coronavirus outbreak has exposed the weakness of western countries, Macron said, “Given these differences, the choices made and what China is today, which I respect, let’s not be so naive as to say it’s been much better at handling this. We don’t know. There are clearly things that have happened that we don’t know about.”

Maharashtra: IMA tells doctors to not criticize state govt in WhatsApp groups following state cyber cell instructions

OpIndia Staff
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Maharashtra: IMA tells doctors to not criticize state govt in WhatsApp groups following state cyber cell instructions

The Maharashtra Unit of the Indian Medical Association has informed doctors in the state that no ‘derogatory’ comments should be passed against the state government’s decisions in WhatsApp groups and while reactions are permitted, they should be in ‘non-offending language’. In a letter signed by state president of IMA’s Maharashtra Unit Dr. Avinash Bhondwe and state secretary Dr. Pankaj Bandarkar, the doctors were told that they had received ‘information’ from the Mahrashtra cyber cell that some doctors in Whatsapp groups had been posting comments against the Maharashtra government and its officers.

As per information received by OpIndia, it is an official letter posted by the state president of the Maharashtra Unit of IMA in his WhatsApp groups. The letter said, “I am sure; we members of the IMA are the cream of the society and will not engage in any such activities. We will continue our Campaign to control the Pandemic of COVID-19.” The letter was addressed to all the office bearers of the organization and said that they were asked to take precaution against criticism of the government on WhatsApp groups.

Maharashtra Government falters on Coronavirus hurdle

The Maharashtra Government has received a lot of criticism for its handling of the Wuhan Coronavirus crisis. There have been allegations that the state government has failed horribly in enforcing a lockdown within its territory. Recently, there was a huge gathering of migrants near a Masjid in Bandra, following misinformation that was spread. As of this moment, as per the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare website, there have been a total of 4203 Coronavirus cases in the state with 507 having been discharged and 223 deaths.

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