The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officials have informed that the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus has resulted in a sharp decline in infiltration and smuggling of cattle, gold, marijuana, fake Indian currency notes (FICN) through the porous 2,216.7 km India-Bangladesh border. At the South Bengal frontier, only 371 km is fenced out of the 915 km.
BSF IG South Bengal Frontier YB Khurania said that even though their vigilante surveillance has not been relaxed, infiltration and smuggling across the South Bengal frontier region had reached “a rock bottom level.” Another senior official informed that the fake currency notes that were being thrown at the Indian side of the fence were just photocopies of original currency notes. “We can safely say the high-quality FICN trade has taken a huge hit,” he emphasised.
The BSF has attributed the decline in smuggling to the fear of the Chinese virus, sealed borders with Bangladesh, increased patrolling of the porous region and apprehensions of a pan-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise. Since the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 24, only 13 Bangladeshi infiltrators had been captured till April 10. During the same period in 2018 and 2019, the numbers were at staggering 76 and 33 respectively.
While only 35 kg of marijuana has seized so far in 2020, the number of cattle smuggling cases has declined to 45 from 1700. In view of the Coronavirus pandemic, the BSF troopers are now equipped with personal protective gear such as gloves, masks and suits to avoid unwarranted physical contact with smugglers and infiltrators.
Earlier, in an unprecedented move, Bangladesh has closed the operations of Daulatdia, the largest brothel in the country located on the bank of river Padma, amidst the outbreak of coronavirus that has infected 20 people in the Islamic Republic. 1500 sex workers are known to work in the brothel and serve around 5000 customers.
Local Police Chief Ashiqur Rahman was quoted as saying, “The brothel at the Daulatdia was closed temporarily as part of precautions against coronavirus. The sex workers were asked not to allow any visitor until April 5.” He revealed that even though prostitution was illegal in the country, law enforcement authorities never interfered in their operations.
Racism against Africans has been reported in the Guangzhou city of China amid the Coronavirus Pandemic. The allegations surfaced after a recent spark in the number of Wuhan Coronavirus cases in the country which were allegedly imported by Nigerians. Following the incident, Africans have alleged that they have become targets of suspicion and subjected to arbitrary quarantines. China claims that it had largely curbed the spread of the virus but a cluster of cases linked to the Nigerian community in southern China’s largest city sparked the alleged discrimination by locals and virus prevention officials.
Guangzhou had confirmed 114 imported coronavirus cases as of Thursday, 16 of which were Africans. This has led to Africans becoming targets of racism in China. Several Africans also claimed that they have been forcibly evicted from their homes and turned away by hotels. “I’ve been sleeping under the bridge for four days with no food to eat… I cannot buy food anywhere, no shops or restaurants will serve me,” said Tony Mathias, an exchange student from Uganda. “We’re like beggars on the street,” the 24-year-old said. Mathias also said that the Police had not given him any information on testing or quarantine but told him to “go to another city”.
A Nigerian businessman said that he was evicted from his apartment earlier in the week. “Everywhere the police see us, they will come and pursue us and tell us to go home. But where can we go?” he said. Many Africans have also been allegedly put under arbitrary quarantines. “Even if we have a negative test result, police don’t let us stay (in our accommodation) and they don’t give a reason why,” said Denny, a Nigerian trader, who was evicted from his flat on Tuesday. Another individual, a citizen of Canada, said, “There’s just this crazy fear that anybody who’s African might have been in contact with somebody who was sick.”
A notice in a restaurant in China
The Communist government of China, however, insists that it treats everyone equally although its foreign ministry acknowledged some “misunderstanding” with the African community living in the country. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said, “Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, China and African countries have always supported each other and have always fought against the virus jointly.” He added, “I would like to emphasize that the Chinese government treats all foreigners in China equally, opposes any differentiated practices targeted at specific groups of people, and has zero tolerance for discriminatory words and actions.”
“When China engages Africa it’s the central government that does that, but when it comes to immigration enforcement that happens at the local level,” said Eric Olander, managing editor of the China Africa Project. “That explains why there’s an inconsistency in the more upbeat messaging we hear about Chinese diplomacy on the continent and the increasingly difficult realities that African traders, students and other expatriates face in their day-to-day lives in China.”
Meanwhile, the recent spate against Africans in Guangzhou has led to a new war of words between the United States and China. The US Embassy in China on Saturday issued a security alert for African Americans living and working in Guangzhou. The US Embassy said that “police ordered bars and restaurants not to serve clients who appear to be of African origin” and local officials have launched mandatory testing and self-quarantine for “anyone with ‘African contacts.’” It added, “African-Americans have also reported that some businesses and hotels refuse to do business with them.”
Meanwhile, African countries have also protested against the mistreatment of their citizens in China with Nigeria leading the way. “My Office invited the Chinese Ambassador to the AU, Mr Liu Yuxi, to express our extreme concern at allegations of maltreatment of Africans in Guangzhou plus called for immediate remedial measures in line with our excellent relations. The African group in Beijing is also engaging with the govt,” African Union Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said.
Nigerian govt also summoned the Chine ambassador to Nigeria and confronted him with videos showing racist attack on Nigerians in China.
Today I met with the Chinese?? Ambassador to Nigeria on the disturbing allegation of ill treatment of Nigerian citizens in China. I showed him the video clip that had made the rounds. He promised to look into it and get back to my office on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/9SUxH0rI7X
Nigeria’s consul general officials also publicly confronted Chinese officials over the mistreatment of Nigerians by Chinese authorities.
NIgeria's Consul-General in China confronts Chinese officials over the racist maltreatment of Nigerians in China, who were forced out of their apartments and hotels they paid for over coronavirus rhetorics in China. pic.twitter.com/gHu3dDNzJ5
— Africa Facts Zone (@AfricaFactsZone) April 9, 2020
While China engages in racist conduct against Africans within their territory, they have simultaneously launched a targeted campaign accusing those who use the term ‘Wuhan Coronavirus’ or ‘Chinese Virus’ for COVID-19 of racism. While the Communist government claims that it treats all its citizens equally, its treatment of Uyghur Muslims demonstrates that it is definitely not the case. Its conduct ever since the pandemic began has also been extremely questionable with the USA accusing the Chinese government of not informing the world of the seriousness of the threat posed by the virus. The USA has also called for an analysis of the ‘origins’ of the Wuhan Coronavirus and accused the WHO of unfairly siding with China on the matter.
Even as the entire country is under a stringent lockdown, some diplomats residing in Delhi have been caught flouting rules of the lockdown and not wearing masks, which has been made mandatory due to the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.
In one such incident, a diplomat from the embassy of Uruguay was found cycling on the Paschimi Marg road in Vasant Vihar in New Delhi on Saturday, where most of the embassies and residence of many of the diplomats posted in the national capital are situated, as per reports.
Head of Administration in Uruguay Embassy Valentina Obispo refuses to follow Lockdown / Wear Mask and talks sarcastic about our PM.
Valentina Obispo, Head of Administration at the Uruguay embassy, was stopped by Delhi Police after they received complaints from the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of some diplomats/foreigners disregarding the seriousness of the situation.
As the Delhi police stopped, the diplomat was seen arguing with the cops about not being aware of such guidelines issued by the government of India.
When the cops asked why was she not following the mandate issued by the MEA, the diplomat said she has not received any such notices. On being asked which embassy the diplomat belonged to, Obispo rode off on her bike reportedly saying, “You can’t say anything to me. You can’t ask me to wear a mask.”
According to the policemen on duty, the diplomat refused to show her identity card to the officials.
The Delhi police also stated that during this incident, officials of Resident Welfare Association (RWA) also reached the spot and informed them that they are also trying to convince the foreign nationals of Vasant Vihar, but they were not listening to the RWAs as well.
The Delhi Police will be sending an official complaint to the Uruguay embassy regarding the diplomat defying lockdown orders and mandatory requirement of wearing a mask. The Delhi Police has also decided to write to the Ministry of External Affairs about the behaviour of the diplomat and her claim that the embassy has not received any guideline from the ministry.
According to India Today, the Ministry of External Affairs has been sending regular advisories to foreign missions about the lockdown and emphasising that they need to stay indoors.
In the most recent instance of spreading misinformation, ABP News has aired footage that vastly exaggerated the number of Chinese Coronavirus cases detected in Haryana while, simultaneously, vastly understated the cases of the virus in the state of Maharashtra. It is pertinent to note here that Haryana is ruled by the BJP with Manohar Lal Khattar as Chief Minister while there is a ‘secular’ government in Maharashtra of the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance between Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress party.
People on social media pointed out that in a footage aired on ABP News claimed that there were 1761 cases of the Wuhan Coronavirus in Haryana when, in reality, as per Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the state has recorded a total of 177 cases as of the time of writing this report with only 145 active cases. 29 had recovered and subsequently discharged while 3 had unfortunately passed away due to the virus. The footage was aired on the 12th of April at around noon.
Here is the screen capture where @ABPNews aired it, Dare you run away from this, You’re the pathetic people doing at this time of humanity crisis. Won’t be spared. pic.twitter.com/rhBC5HcwmD
Simultaneously, another user tweeted that ABP News had shown Maharashtra having only 381 cases. It is Maharashtra, in fact, that has recorded a total of 1761 cases as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare as of the time of writing this report. 208 people have been discharged while 127 have succumbed to the disease. The footage, as seen in the above-embedded tweet, also showed Kerala having 151 cases when in reality it has 239 active cases excluding 123 cured patients and 2 deaths. A total of 364 positive cases were reported in Kerala.
Haryana has done a stellar job at controlling the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus while Maharashtra has failed utterly thus far to curb its spread. While Manohar Lal Khattar has taken several important steps to aid the state machinery in combating the pandemic, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray, has resorted to PR campaigns instead of concrete steps. While the efforts of the former have been continuously underplayed by the journalists and mainstream media, the latter has received a great deal of praise without any achievement to his credit. Uddhav Thackeray is also being aided, it seems, by fake news being spread by the mainstream media.
The mainstream media and journalists have not taken to rectify their incompetence even in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps, it’s due to the fact that the incompetence is driven by malice that it has been so difficult to rectify it and time and again, the media has engaged in spreading fake news. The fake news spread by the mainstream media cannot be attributed to incompetence alone because if it were only incompetence, they would have erred on equal parts against all sides of the political spectrum. However, as of now, the incompetence always appears to work against the BJP. Therefore, malice can definitely not be ruled out.
On Sunday, the United Kingdom (UK) will receive the shipment of 3 million packets of paracetamol from India to fight the Wuhan Coronavirus that has killed over 10,000 people in the country.
UK to shortly receive first batch of 3 million #paracetamol packets from India.
Jan Thompson, the acting British High Commissioner to India, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for approving the export of paracetamol to the United Kingdom. “Global cooperation is critical in the fight against COVID-19”, she reiterated. Thompson added that India and the UK have a track record of “working together” in tackling global challenges.
Moreover, Lord Tariq Ahmad, the Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, expressed his gratitude on behalf of the UK government for the “important shipment” and vowed that the two countries will work in close partnership against the Wuhan Coronavirus.
UK ?? and India ?? continue to work in close partnership to respond to #COVID19 threat. I add my sincere thanks on behalf of the UK Government to India for approving this important shipment. https://t.co/cquOm8yGZD
— Lord (Tariq)Ahmad of Wimbledon (@tariqahmadbt) April 9, 2020
On Sunday, thousands of British nationals stranded in various parts of India such as Goa, Mumbai, Delhi, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Kolkata, amidst the nationwide lockdown, will be ferried to their home country via charter flights. Ahmed informed that the UK Government was working in close association with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, the States and Indian authorities in London to facilitate the repatriation of the Britons.
Earlier, the Ministry of Tourism had launched the ‘Stranded in India’ portal on March 31 to provide factually correct information to foreign tourists to ease their fears and confusion. The portal will also enable smooth evacuation of stranded tourists with the help of their respective governments. The Tourism Ministry assured, “The world is facing an unprecedented situation. We are with you in these difficult times. If you are a foreign traveller stranded anywhere in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we can help you get in touch with the concerned authorities.”
On Friday, the Indian Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar informed that it will export 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan and 40,000 tonnes of wheat to Lebanon as a part of its diplomatic deals. It is expected that India will produce 106 million tonnes of wheat in 2020 due to favourable weather conditions.
The Indian govt has stated that India will allow the export of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol to some countries which are ‘badly affected’ with the coronavirus crisis. Particularly several countries want hydroxychloroquine, the drug used to treat malaria and arthritis, as it has shown promising results against the Wuhan coronavirus. Initially, India is exporting the drug to US, Spain, Germany, Bahrain, Brazil, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Mauritius and the Dominican Republic. The MEA has also stated that no speculation and politicisation of the issue should be made.
The Delhi government led by Arvind Kejriwal appears to have caved in under the pressure of Delhi Minority Commission, which had demanded the AAP government to drop any reference to Tablighi Jamaat in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases in Delhi. Conceding to the Minority Commission’s demand, the Delhi government has removed any reference to Tablighi Jamaat super-spreader and instead clubbed the positive coronavirus cases emerging from it under a tab named ‘Special Operations’.
The bulletin released by the health department of the Delhi Government last night has no mention of Markaz Nizamuddin induced coronavirus cases in the national capital and instead has a column with the title named “Special Operations” to include the positive COVID-19 cases due to the congregation that was organised by Tablighi Jamaat in mid-March. It is pertinent to note that the Delhi government, until a day ago, April 10, were cataloguing the positive coronavirus under the tab “Markaz Related” to provide the information about the cases that had links to the fateful event.
The move by the Delhi government to drop the reference to Markaz Nizamuddin related incidents in its daily bulletins came after the DMC Chairman Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan wrote a letter to the Arvind Kejriwal government asking him to discard the separate column ‘Markaz Related’ from its daily bulletin.
In the letter, he said: “Your bulletins of Coronavirus victims are showing a separate column ‘Markaz Masjid’. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda of the lap media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country. As a result, Muslims are being attacked in various areas, calls are being made for their social boycott, one boy has been lynched in the North-West Delhi village of Harewali, others attacked.”
The DMC letter further said, “World Health Organisation has taken cognisance of this phenomenon, unique to India. WHO Emergency Programme Director Mike Ryan said on 6 April 2020: ‘Countries should not profile novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in terms of religion or any other criteria.’ Two days later he asked governments not to politicise the issue and stop profiling people on a religious basis.
The role of Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus across numerous states of India had come to light when 10 people who had attended the congregation at Markaz Nizamuddin died of COVID-19. Muslim clerics of Tablighi Jamaat organised a congregation in violation of the government’s lockdown orders, providing a conducive environment for the novel coronavirus to proliferate. As per conservative estimates, the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat was attended by more than 2000 people, both from various parts of the country as well as from abroad. A staggering number of cases in the country are attributed to the Markaz Nizamuddin event where scores of Muslim clerics attended the event and later travelled to different parts of the country, carrying the infection with them.
About 130 Wuhan Coronavirus hotspots (roughly 90%) in the State of Telangana are linked to the members of the Tablighi Jamaat who had attended the religious congregation held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz between March 13 and March 15, reportedThe Sunday Guardian Live. Along with that, around 120 hotspots in Andhra Pradesh are connected to the Tablighi Jamaat members and their associates.
Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender said that the State would have been free from the Chinese virus, in the absence of the Jaamatis. Around 15 such hotspots are in Hyderabad while the remaining 115 are in other districts of the State. All Coronavirus positive patients are being treated at 3 hospitals in Hyderabad. A task force of 1300 teams comprising of the police and medical staff have been deployed in such 130 containment zones.
According to the ICMR guidelines, people with symptoms of fever, cough, and cold will be tested in Coronavirus containment zones. Earlier, the labs had been testing only symptomatic patients with respiratory ailments, besides international patients and those who came in contact with them. The lockdown in hotspots will be extended if new cases of Coronavirus are reported from such an area. Such localities are under surveillance due to the several complaints against infected people deliberately wandering around in a bid to transmit the deadly pathogen.
Identifying the clusters of containment zones had helped the cops and the government to implement in the lockdown in a better way. This has also helped reduce public inconvenience ensuring public safety. Moreover, the police have sought the help of ‘Gully Warriors’, a group of young boys and girls who inform about those miscreants that move out of the restricted areas.
Reportedly, Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rama Mohan had informed about the door-to-door delivery of essential items for people residing in such zones. “For any medical emergency, the people here should dial 100 or 104 for ambulance services,” he reiterated. Massive police deployment in Muslim-dominated areas has also ensured that none stepped out of their houses for offering Friday prayers at mosques.
Roughly, 712 live cases of Coronavirus in Delhi are also linked to the Jaamatis. They also account for 2/3rd of the total cases in the National Capital that has reported a total of 1,069 cases as of April 11. About 77% of the new 128 cases are associated with the Nizamuddin Markaz. It is interesting to note that the Delhi Government has reclassified Chinese virus cases related to the Tablighi Jamaat as “Special Operations.” The Tamil Nadu government had also earlier started to refer the Jamaats as the “single source”.
I bet that in some parts of the world, Hinduphobia must have been classified as an essential service. Because it appears that the global elite cannot go without their regular supply of it. In spite of all the lockdowns in the world.
With even more time on their hands than usual, the elite has to invent new examples of “thoughtcrime” to keep their minds and their audiences engaged. Blaming the government of China is a strict no-no. So where does the global liberal go right now with their righteous, moral outrage?
To India of course. There’s one billion Hindus out there, the biggest of all soft targets in the world. And now this, in the Atlantic, from the poison pen of Aatish Taseer.
The Atlantic article by Aatish Taseer
Facing the brunt this time is the word “Bharat,” which is sought to be declared “exclusionary.” The reasons given include Bharat being a Sanskrit term and Bharat being the word used for India in Indian languages.
Ooh! Indians have been using a secret term to refer to their own country, away from the eyes of the world. How very sinister.
The surprising part is how it took so long for the liberal world to discover this crime of thought / speech committed by Indians in their daily lives. After all, this genre of Hinduphobia has produced several gems already, from diatribes against everything from sarees to rasam to sambhar to diyas and Hanuman stickers. In other words, every single thing about India that may not be widely known in the West is a ripe target for being framed as a sinister conspiracy against humanity. An attack on the word “Bharat” was only a matter of time.
Of course, we hardly need to explain how ridiculous Taseer’s attack on the word “Bharat” is. The national anthem refers to India as “Bharat.” Even the Indian Constitution begins with the phrase “India, that is Bharat…” But the point is that not many in the West have heard the word Bharat. This makes it a prime target for Hinduphobia.
It is not difficult to see what comes next. Incidentally, Aatish Taseer actually responded to my tweet. This time, he seems to suggest that the idea of Bharat could be similar to the self-image of Nazi Germany.
Aatish Taseer comparing idea of Bharat to Nazi Germany
(Side note : Germans never refer to their country as “Germany”. Instead, they always say “Deutschland”. Or as Aatish would probably put it, a word used away from the eyes of the world. But then, it’s not easy to stigmatize a Western European country, is it?)
But the ball has been set in motion, nevertheless. The stage has been set for the word Bharat to be stigmatized, effectively ‘criminalized.’ Just like the word ‘Hindutva,’ which has been defamed to the point that liberals openly raise slogans of “Hindutva ki kabar khudegi” (Dig a burial pit for Hindutva). Nobody thinks any more that a largely Muslim mob raising slogans of digging burial pit for Hindutva is offensive. Nobody sees the echoes of Nazism in that.
The same is about to happen to the word Bharat. The ‘woke’ classes among us will be the first ones to catch on to the new trend. They will start shunning the word. Gradually, they will wear us down, let it filter down, seep in and settle. Ultimately, it will become a tag that most common Hindus will run away from.
As a matter of fact, the word Bharat has been on the chopping block before. Who remembers the slogan ‘Bharat ke tukde’? That was roughly four years ago. Out of that great media event, the names of three young leaders, all reportedly Communist and atheist, entered the public consciousness : Umar Khalid, Shehla Rashid and Kanhaiya Kumar. Two of them went on to become outspoken defenders of the One True Faith. The third one went on to become a warrior against ‘Hindutva.’
Therein, you can understand the real trajectory of where Indian secularism wants to take us.
There are two important lessons here, one for the Hindu right and the other for the left.
For the Hindu right, it is a chance to understand how the left is always on the offensive in this game of labels. Notice that they always fight battles on our turf, putting us on the defensive. They take terms like ‘Hindutva’ or ‘Bharat’ and start defaming them relentlessly.
Yes, we push back, but they have already factored that into their model. Their aim is to first take these perfectly innocent labels and make them appear controversial. The controversy drives away the bulk of common people who are not looking for conflict over words. This is how they win.
In 2016, the nation was furious with slogans of “Bharat ke tukde”. But the left will work relentlessly to make Bharat an ugly word, synonymous with Nazism. By 2026, people may not be outraged by that slogan any more. Just like in 2020, people are no longer outraged by “Hindutva ki kabar khudegi.”
The only option is to strike back at labels that are dear to the left. Such as ‘liberal’ or ‘secular.’ Rather than accuse them of betraying liberalism or secularism, the right must focus its attack on the labels themselves. So much so that common people would be put off from calling themselves liberal or secular.
The other lesson is for Indian leftists themselves. I performed a simple experiment and googled the words “Chinese virus” along with “Atlantic”, the name of the publication where Taseer’s article appeared.
The Atlantic result for ‘Chinese virus’
Five articles in the last one month complaining in whole or in part about the term “Chinese virus”. The same publication which is now out to stigmatize the term “Bharat.” Turns out that liberals are forever worried about inciting prejudice against entire nations, as long as the victims are not Indians!
I want to remind the Indian left that in 2014, Sonia Gandhi herself went on television, asking people to show their “Bharatiyata” by voting against Modi! At that time, Bharat was considered a good, noble word.
By 2016, the left wing view on Bharat had shifted. There were leftists who were calling for Bharat ke tukde.
It’s 2020 and the word Bharat is already being pushed into the same column as Nazi. Do you see where this is going?
Indian leftists with Hindu names need to understand. Sooner or later, the global left is coming for you as well. They hate you just as much as they hate me. How much longer before they pick up a label that is dear to you and demonize it? Perhaps your mother tongue, or your name and whatever it means. They will demonize it sooner or later. They intend to strip away every marker of Hindu culture and leave the land of Bharat barren, devastated and without a history. As Faiz would have put it, bas naam rahega …. ka.
In yet another cowardly attack on the policemen, a mob attacked a police team by pelting stones at them in Mathura after the police personnel had asked the villagers to stay inside during the lockdown.
According to the reports, 10 persons have been arrested for violating lockdown and pelting stones at a police team in Govardhan area, Mathura on Saturday.
SSP Gaurav Grover said that the police were informed that lockdown was being violated in Bhim Nagar village after which a police team reached there. He added that not only were shops open in the village, people were also playing cards in the open. The crowds had gathered outside shops and norms of social distancing were being flouted.
As the police team tried to drive sense into the crowd gathered there, the mob suddenly became violent and attacked the cops with lathis, rods and even pelted stones at them.
Later, an additional force had to be called to the area to disperse the crowd and 10 persons were arrested, while 28 identified and 24 unidentified persons managed to escape.
In the attack, a cop sustained injuries. A case was registered and efforts were being made to arrest the miscreants.
In a similar attack, a team of police personnel and district officials were attacked by locals in Meerut’s Jali Kothi when they reached there to seal a part of the area following a confirmation about presence of coronavirus patients in a mosque in the area.
Ever since the nationwide lockdown was announced in the country, there have been concerted attacks against healthcare workers, policemen by Muslim mobs, who are risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic. We had reported regarding the series of attacks unleashed against frontline health workers by Muslim mobs during the coronavirus epidemic.
In an effort to trace the Tablighi Jamaat members, who have now gone into hiding after attending a religious meet at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi- the epicentre of coronavirus cases in the country, the Uttar Pradesh police have decided to reward people for helping to trace the Tablighi Jamaat members who are yet to report to the authorities despite several warnings.
According to the reports, Azamgarh Superintendent of Police Triveni Singh announced that those informing the police about the Tablighi Jamaat members will be given a cash reward of Rs 5,000, adding their identity will be kept a secret.
“The Jamaat members are still hiding. We have made an appeal to them that if they come up and appear before the authorities, no action will be initiated against them,” Superintendent of Police Triveni Singh said.
“But, if the information about them comes to us through another source, strict action will be initiated against them,” the official said.
Similarly, Santhosh Kumar Singh, SSP of Bulandshahr on Friday had announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for people who would provide information on Tablighi Jamaat followers who have been in hiding after returning from the controversial religious gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz last month.
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, numerous people across numerous states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
