Jordanian Islamic Scholar Ahmad Al-Shahrouri has claimed that people living in the West suffer from diseases like the Chinese Coronavirus because they do not wash their buttocks with water after performing their excretory functions as Muslims do. In a video clip shared by Memri TV, the translations to which were provided by the same, the Islamic scholar complains about the “purity and cleanliness that westerners lack so much”. The comments were made on the 29th of March, 2020.
#ICYMI: Jordanian Islamic Scholar Ahmad Al-Shahrouri: Westerners Are Plagued with Diseases Like the Coronavirus Because They Do Not Wash Filth from Their Behinds with Water Like We Do #MEMRICoronaviruspic.twitter.com/SwqxqTWVpe
The Islamic Scholar appeared disgusted by the fact that one could not find a “drop of water” to wash his ‘behind’ when one entered a toilet in the West. It is why Muslims travels in a plane ‘or whatever’, they take some water with them to the lavatories. “Currently, they have run out of toilet paper in the markets,” says the Islamic scholar, “because they do not use water!”
“They are plagued by these diseases, these microbes, and these viruses because they do not clean their filth enough,” Ahmad Al-Shahrouri said. He continued, “Believe me when I tell you that once I traveled to a foreign country, and I had a middle seat on the plane. I sat between two citizens from the country I was traveling to. Believe me… for over two hours- it was a domestic flight… For over two hours, my head almost exploded from the stench that filled my nose! I couldn’t believe it when the flight was finally over and I could leave my seat.”
Ahmad Al-Shahrouri said, “Why is France famous for producing the most luxurious perfumes? It is because they do not use water. They use perfumes to get rid of the filth and foulness of their bodies and of the odours that stick to them. Oh Muslim, you should praise Allah for making you perform ablution.”
The Islamic Scholar was probably referring to the shortage of toilet papers in western countries after the public started hoarding items due to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. The hoarding has led to stores running out of toilet papers, leaving many concerned. The shortage has also become the butt of jokes on social media.
While the number of coronavirus cases in the country is rising at an alarming rate, there are some perversely malevolent individuals who are wantonly trying to spread the infection to others. In a video that has gone viral now, a group of 4-5 women in the town of Rajasthan’s Kota, were seen spitting in polythenes bags and throwing them inside houses.
Known for its coaching centres, Kota, on Sunday morning saw some women walking in the colonies and spitting on the sidewalks, trains and houses. After a police complaint was filed against them in the Vallabh Bari area of the city on the basis of the viral video which showed suspicious women spitting inside polythenes and hurling those plastic bags inside the neighbouring houses.
After the video procured from the CCTV footage which shows the women spitting in the houses went viral, there is an increased sense of panic and fear of coronavirus among the Kota residents. According to the Kota police, soon after the video went viral, the police registered a cases against the unknown women and an investigation has been launched in the matter. The entire area where the women were seen prowling around with the aim to infect others has been sanitised. However, no official confirmation has been made regarding the women seen in the CCTV footage.
Rajasthan: CCTV cameras capture some women spitting in plastic bags &throwing them in some houses in Vallabhvadi area of Kota despite ban on spitting in public in view of #COVID19. “Area has been sanitised&search is on for accused,” says Gumanpura Circle Inspector Manoj Sikarwar. pic.twitter.com/iCAvNCa0kk
Gumanpura CI Manoj Sikarwar has stated that the area has been sanitised and the accused women are being searched.
Earlier, ten-rupee notes found in the letterboxes of various houses in Jodhpur created a sensation after people suspected that the notes might be infected with the coronavirus. However, after investigations, it was found that the notes were counterfeit.
The coronavirus infected cases in the state of Rajasthan has increased to 815 by Monday morning. There have been 11 new cases in the state. According to the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rohit Kumar Singh, one new case has come to light in Bharatpur and ten in Banswara. The capital of Rajasthan, Jaipur, has recorded the highest number of 341 cases so far. The state is under strict lockdown since March 22 and curfew has been imposed in at least 40 sensitive areas susceptible to the coronavirus outbreak.
An message has gone viral on social media which claims to be a notice from the Ministry of Tourism which claims that “Hotels, restaurants, resorts all over India will remain closed till October 15, 2020, due to coronavirus disease spread all over the world.”
The purported notice further warns about action against the owners, in case of non-compliance to the order. The supposed order from the Ministry of Tourism is laden with grammatical errors that raise aspersions about its authenticity at the very onset.
Screenshot of the Viral Ministry of Tourism Ciricular
Fact-checking website FactHunt debunked this falsehood. On April 8, the Ministry of tourism had clarified that such a notice was not issued by the Government of India. It urged people to rely on verified information shared by the official social media handles of the Ministry and refrain from forwards such dubious Whatsapp messages.
The MoT, GoI, requests your attention to kindly refrain from forwarding a certain fake message regarding the closure of hotels/restaurants. We assure you that we have not issued such a message. pic.twitter.com/RgCrp86NdJ
Moreover, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) also dubbed the circular as “fake” and appealed to people to not fall prey to rumours.
Be cautious of #Fake order claiming that hotels/resturants will remain closed till 15th October 2020 due to #Coronavirusoutbreak.#PIBFactCheck: The order is Fake and has NOT been issued by Ministry of Tourism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown to curb the spread of Chinese coronavirus for three weeks which concludes on 14th April. On 11th April, the PM had a tele-conference with chief ministers of other states on further action on the lockdown. PM Modi will address the nation at 10 AM on 14th April where he is expected to inform the citizens about the future plan of action on coronavirus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation at 10 am on Tuesday as the 21-day deadline ends on April 14. The Prime Minister is widely expected to announce an extension of the lockdown till April 30.
In addition to extending lockdown amid the states’ request, some measures to restart the economy is also expected to be outlined by the Prime Minister.
Earlier, during his meeting with Chief Ministers on Saturday, PM Modi had agreed that a continued lockdown was necessary to fight the Chinese epidemic, but had talked about saving livelihoods as well as lives.
Few states like Telangana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Punjab have also already extended restrictions till the month-end considering the rising number of coronavirus cases in India.
India has recorded over 9000 positive cases and over 300 deaths. Maharashtra’s tally of positive coronavirus cases crossed the 2000 mark on Monday.
Taking precaution against the Chinese pandemic, the Southern Railways has asked its staff to undergo medical tests after many Tablighi Jamaatis, who had attended the Delhi religious event had travelled by trains between March 14 and 20.
As per a report in the New Indian Express, the Tablighi Jamaat attendees had travelled by 13 trains from Delhi to Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. As many of the attendees have now tested positive for the Chinese virus, the Southern Railway has now warned that ticket examiners and RPF personnel may also have been contracted with the virus and hence asked its staff to undergo a medical test.
The Southern Railways has asked more than 100 employees including travel ticket examiners, RPF personnel and contract staffs to undergo medical tests and quarantine themselves in various places.
“Those employees engaged in cleaning the coaches also been cautioned. The report will be sent to Health departments of the State government for further follow-up,” a senior official said.
As per the NIE report, An internal circular sent by Senior Divisional Safety Commissioner, RPF, Chennai to the officials of Chennai railway division on Saturday stated that a significant number of participants of the religious congregation have travelled in S1, S2, S5 and S6 coaches in Nizamuddin – Chennai Duronto express on March 17.
The Tablighi members also travelled in general coaches of Janshatabdi express between Vijayawada and Chennai on March 18. In addition, many attendees may also have travelled in 11 southbound trains between March 14 and 20.
The circular has issued names of 13 trains in which the suspected Tablighi Jamaat members may have travelled to different parts of the country. The Indian Railways has also identified the participants based on reports received from the Delhi government and few other States including Telangana.
The list of trains released by Southern Railways in which suspect Tablighi Jamaat members may have travelled between March 14 and 20 is as follows:
Jammu Tawi – Kanyakumari Himsagar express,
Dehradun – Madurai biweekly express,
New Delhi – Chennai Tamil Nadu express,
New Delhi – Thiruvananthapuram Kerala express,
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Chennai Andaman express,
New Delhi – Ernakulam Millenum Express,
Hazrat Nizamuddin – Chennai Rajdhani express,
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Tirunelveli Navyug Express,
The Nizamuddin Markaz of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi has been the epicentre of the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus all across India. The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all guidelines and orders. Subsequently, hundreds of people across numerous states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
National Herald, The Congress mouthpiece, published an opinion piece by Vikas Bajpai, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, that absolved the Tablighi Jamaat of all its crimes and instead accused political parties and the media of ‘scapegoating’ them. Furthermore, the author went ahead with taking potshots at the Hindu community and indulging in rabid Hinduphobia, all the while he engages in apologia for the Islamic missionary organization.
The article attributed the reasons behind the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus entirely to the government while claiming that it was unfair to blame the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin of Tablighi Jamaat for the spread of the disease. Needless to say, although the article is headlined “Hysteria over Tablighi Jamaat turns out to be counterproductive”, it doesn’t really say how it is proving to be counterproductive.
Source: Congress mouthpiece National Herald article shielding Tablighi Jamaat and taking jibes at Hindus
The article claimed, “It is easy to blame the Markaj for holding the congregation between March 13 to March 15; easier to forget that on March 13 Health ministry officials said on record that the coronavirus was not a health or national emergency. It is easy to blame the Markaj in hindsight and ask why the congregation did not leave after March 15 but perhaps easier to forget the confusion, chaos and conflicting voices emanating from the Government at the time.” The author takes equal opportunity to blame the Delhi Government and the Union Government but has no words to offer for the deplorable conduct of the Tablighi Jamaat.
Throughout the article, the author blames ‘godi media’ and ‘gobar’ politics, however, it doesn’t even bother to mention the fact that members of the Tablighi Jamaat have been doing everything they can to hide themselves from authorities. It is rather perplexing that the author makes it a point to take vulgar jibes at the Hindu community even as he attempts to whitewash the sins of the Islamic missionary organization. The bigoted sectarian nature of his worldview is evident from the fact that he goes out of his way to drag the Hindu community in a matter that it has nothing to do with. To uphold secularism, it appears, denigrating the Hindu community while defending Islamic fundamentalists simultaneously is essential.
The author doesn’t mention the fact that the Jamaatis have not been cooperating with the healthcare workers at all and in certain instances, have engaged in sexually predatory behaviour against nurses and female staff at hospitals. They have also thrown tantrums and embarked on a spitting spree to further spread the Wuhan Coronavirus. Gathering in large numbers violating government guidelines was only the first of a series of atrocious conduct by the Tablighi Jamaat members. Their actions sinc them have only grown infinitely worse.
The article claims that there is an ‘enormous shortage’ of PPE, despite several clarifications from the government that there is a sufficient supply of equipment as of now. Most dangerously, the author provides justification for the Jamaatis to hide from the authorities. He says, “What then makes us believe that the Tablighis or the migrants would willingly reveal themselves to the authorities were they to fall sick? Their treatment as villains, above all by the agencies of the state, would have made even other people wary.” It needs to be mentioned here that the migrants have made no effort to hide from any authority. In fact, they have come forward because they are in great need of help and every state and the central government is working towards providing them with the help they need. Therefore, clubbing them with Jamaatis is itself driven by ulterior motives.
Furthermore, the Jamaatis have not been cooperating with authorities as it is. Blaming the government and media due to their conduct is a deliberate attempt to deflect attention from the problematic religious beliefs of the Islamic Missionary organization. Maulana Saad of Markaz Nizamuddin was preaching that the Wuhan Coronavirus is a conspiracy against Islam and advocated continued physical proximity when social distancing is essential towards combating the virus. Furthermore, the Maulana preached that if 70,000 angels could not save Muslims, then no doctor could possibly cure them. Under such circumstances, if the government and media is blamed for the lack of cooperation on the part of the Jamaatis, it is little more than a malicious lie.
The author further says, “If official statistics are to be relied upon, India is as yet nowhere near to the scale of the COVID-19 calamity that has already visited countries much smaller in population as compared to India’s, with the singular exception of China. Yet from none of these countries have we heard of victims of the pandemic being treated as culprits or criminals”. The author conveniently forgets that authorities in South Korea have charged a Christian sect for spreading the Wuhan Coronavirus.
The article was an elaborate effort to absolve the Tablighi Jamaat of all sins and place the blame, instead, at the feet of the central and Dehi government. While there have been missteps on certain occasions, however, this is an unprecedented situation and any government cannot be expected to get everything right a hundred percent of the time. A lot of the times, the government had to make a choice between two extremely bad options. Thus, migrants have suffered due to the lockdown. However, it was necessary in order to curb the spread. While the author is overeager to excuse the misconduct of the Tablighi Jamaat, he is only driven to blame the government for unavoidable hardships due to his personal political biases.
The Tablighi Jamaat time bomb erupted across the country in the last week of March when around 200 people with Wuhan Coronavirus symptoms were admitted to various hospitals in Delhi from the Markaz Nizamuddin and surrounding places. Subsequently, the area around the Markaz Nizamuddin was cordoned off by the Delhi Police. Soon, cases began to erupt across the country with links to the Tablighi Jamaat and the country stood horrified as the magnitude of the Islamic Missionary organization’s transgressions became known. But even so, a significant section of the media and the political class is going out of its way to whitewash and hide the crimes of the Tablighi Jamaat. And some, like the National Herald, believe that the proper way forward is to take jibes at the Hindu community instead.
Even as the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in Maharashtra continues to exacerbate, and the number of positive coronavirus cases rising precipitously, threatening to overwhelm the public health system, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the state has refused the central government’s move to deploy the Armed Forces and stem the inexorable spread of the virus in the country’s financial capital, says a report published in Sakal.
The number of positive coronavirus cases in the city of Mumbai, one of the largest and most dense Indian cities, are surging uncontrollably. A large number of infected people detected from various suburbs of Mumbai such as Worli, Dharavi, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Byculla, Powai, Dongri, Grant Road, Santacruz, Chembur, Govandi, Malad, Dadar and Kandivali have amplified the fears of a possible transition of the contagion into community transmission stage.
With the state government’s inability to effectively implement the lockdown and deter people from breaching the restrictions, the centre had planned to send in Army to take control of the city and blunt the soaring spread of the virus. Despite the number of positive COVID-19 cases surging uncontrollably in the city, people in Mumbai continued thronging the streets in flagrant violation of the lockdown orders. The centre had therefore planned to station Army in the city, specifically in areas such as Dharavi, Ray Road, Mankhurd, Mohammad Ali Road and Bhiwandi in Thane.
However, the plan was suddenly dropped after the Uddhav Thackeray government remained obstinate in denying the Army intervention in the station amidst a spiralling crisis. According to the report, the Maharashtra leadership is racked with misgivings that if the Indian Army is allowed to take over the reins of Mumbai, the powers vested in state and local administration would be effectively lost and the central government would dominate the city with the presence of the federal armed forces. It is because of this fear, the report says, that the Maharashtra state government, which has so far bungled spectacularly in its response to confront the coronavirus, refused Army intervention in Mumbai.
Maharashtra is the worst-affected state from the scourge of coronavirus in India. About 2064 positive COVID-19 cases have been registered in the state, out of which more than half of them have been reported from the city of Mumbai alone. Yesterday, 217 positive coronavirus cases were reported by the BMC with 16 fatalities.
In a shocking revelation, a former aide has accused former US Vice President and Democratic party presidential candidate Joe Biden of sexually assaulting her during the early 1990s when he was a Senator.
According to the reports, Tara Reade, who hails from California, had accused Joe Biden of assaulting her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building in the spring of 1993. She had also filed a police report in Washington on Thursday which said that she was a victim of a sexual assault by an unknown person.
Tara Reade, who had briefly worked as a staff assistant in Biden’s Senate office said that in 1993, Biden had pinned her to a wall in a Senate building, reached under her clothing and penetrated her with his fingers. Reade’s statements were confirmed by her friend, who said that Reade had told her the details of the allegation at the time. Another friend and a brother of Reade also said she told them over the years about a traumatic sexual incident involving Biden.
Last year, Reade had publicly accused Biden of inappropriate touching in the past. In a podcast interview, Reade had accused Biden of assaulting and touched her without consent while the two were alone after she delivered him a gym bag.
However, Biden deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield has refuted the allegations and stated that the former vice president has “dedicated his public life to changing the culture and the laws around violence against women.”
She added, “he firmly believes that women have a right to be heard and heard respectfully, but such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press.” Bedingfield further claimed, “What is clear about this claim: it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.”
Earlier in the Democratic primary, Biden had also faced accusations of unwanted touching by several women, who said they were uncomfortable with hugs, hand-holding and other actions. Reade was among the few victims who had come forward at the time to narrate her ordeal.
Reade’s sexual harassment charges against Joe Biden comes a time when the former vice president is seeking to unify the Democratic Party behind his campaign as the party’s presidential nominee after Bernie Sanders dropped out of the contest last week.
According to media reports, the Delhi Police’s team of crime branch officials is all set to nab controversial Muslim cleric Maulana Muhammad Saad – the mastermind of the Tablighi Jamaat coronavirus incident, to question the Tablighi leader and other people named in the FIR in next two days. The crime branch will include doctors in the team so that Maulana Saad does not get an escape route, reports India TV. He has been absconding since March 28.
The sources in the Delhi police told India TV that they also suspect that Maulana Saad might make excuses to avoid questioning claiming that he has just come back from home quarantine, therefore, he will not be able to support the inquiry immediately. He might also say that since he was in quarantine from last 14 days therefore he is not aware about the current situation of the Jamaat headquarters and he needs time to talk to his colleagues, the sources said to IANS.
“We are thinking of including a team of doctors so that he can’t evade the questioning now,” said a police officer of the Crime Branch who was asked how would Delhi police counter claims of the Maulana.
The officer added that Maulana will be quizzed on why was such a huge gathering called despite repeated warnings from the police, SDM, WHO and health department of Delhi government. The Crime Branch official also added that there is no need for any evidence as of now. The further line of investigation will be prepared on the basis of the statements of the accused, he added.
Responding to the questions on Maulana Saad’s insistence of meeting police in the Markaz headquarters, his whereabouts and delay in questioning, the official said, “All such news has been spread by the media. We are doing what needs to be done. We are ready with everything. Till now we are waiting for his quarantine period to be over because social distancing is important during this pandemic spread.”
Maulana Saad Khandalvi is the chief of Nizamuddin Markaz, the event which has now emerged as a hotspot for the maximum cases of coronavirus as over 1300 of the total number of Tablighi Jamaatis have been traced back to the event and their contacts. Nearly 25,000 people have been quarantined by the government of India.
Maulana Saad is booked under The Epidemics Act 1897 for allowing religious congregation in the month of March despite repeated warnings from the centre and the state government. He disregarded the guidelines issued by the government in the light of the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic which is spreading rapidly.
Earlier, 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 who is a resident of Zakir Nagar is hiding on the outskirts of Delhi at a supporter’s house. Reportedly, the Islamic cleric had hidden in a dense population area, knowing well that it could help evade arrest.
Nineteen fresh cases of Wuhan coronavirus have been reported from Mumbai’s Dharavi on Sunday alone- the largest slum in Asia which is home to nearly eight lakh residents, taking the total to 47. So far five deaths have been reported from the locality in Mumbai, reports Times of India.
on 13 April, 4 new cases of the coronavirus have already been reported from Dharavi.
#Mumbai 4 new COVID19 positive cases and 1 death reported in Dharavi today. Till now, the total number of positive cases in Dharavi is 47, 5 deaths#Maharashtrapic.twitter.com/3g9tvHL4sO
According to the reports, the Mumbai police on Monday barricaded the area amid the rising number of coronavirus cases from the locality. The policemen have maintained a strict vigil to check the movement of the people. The authorities stated they are working towards limiting the spread of coronavirus in the crowded areas.
The officials said that seven of the cases came from three different areas where positive cases had not been reported so far.
Earlier this week, the Mumbai civic officials had said that at least nine containment zones have been put in place in Dharavi and added that more such zones will be identified if more cases come up in the area.
Maharashtra has been the epicentre of India’s coronavirus cases with more than 1,700 cases being reported out of the country’s 8,356 cases. Maharashtra has reported 127 deaths out of 300-odd deaths due to coronavirus in the country. Mumbai was identified as a coronavirus hotspot by the centre after it reported more than 1,000 cases.
