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Within months of exporting Wuhan Coronavirus, China reopens wet markets selling bats, dogs, cats

OpIndia Staff
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Within months of exporting Wuhan Coronavirus, China reopens wet markets selling bats, dogs, cats

The notorious ‘wet markets’ of China, which are the epicentres of the Chinese Coronavirus from where the deadly pandemic was exported to the rest of the world, have reopened selling bats pangolins and dogs for human consumption, reports Times of India. Generally, wet markets refer to the markets that sale fresh meat, fish etc, but in China these markets are known to sale meat of wild animals, which are known source of several deadly pathogens like the Wuhan Coronavirus.

The reopening of these dangerous wet markets has once again caused a scare across the world as scientists believe that the coronavirus causing COVID-19 was present inside a bat in China from that it and transferred into another animal, before getting passed on to humans.

The scientific reports suggest that a 55-year-old woman from China’s Hubei province may have been the first person to have contracted COVID-19 through one such wet market. Huanan Seafood Market in China’s Wuhan is believed to be the epicentre of coronavirus, which swept the world, engulfing lakhs as far as the United States and killing nearly 42,000 people.

“The markets have gone back to operating in exactly the same way as they did before coronavirus,” reported a correspondent of ‘A Mail on Sunday’.

However, the Chinese authorities have increased security at these wet markets to ensure that no one is able to take pictures of the blood-soaked floors, slaughtering of dogs and rabbits, and scared animals cramped in cages.

The World Health Organisation had said in a statement on January 12 had also stated that there was evidence to suggest that the outbreak is associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan.

Four months on, the Chinese pandemic seems to be far from over even as Beijing celebrates victory over coronavirus with no vaccination insight for the pathogen, which many people worldwide call Wuhan virus or Chinese virus.

“Everyone here believes the outbreak is over and there’s nothing to worry about anymore. It’s just a foreign problem now as far as they are concerned,” a China-based correspondent was quoted by Washington Examiner.

According to Daily Mail report, the reopening of wet markets is China is a kind of “celebrating its victory” on coronavirus. Further, despite responsible for thousands of deaths, China has made no efforts to increase the hygiene standards to prevent a similar outbreak in the future. The report claims that many in China now believe that the pandemic is now over domestically and are going back to patronising the wet markets.

At present, the Chinese wet markets are selling caged dogs, cats, rabbits and ducks as meat. Also being sold were wild animals like bats, scorpions and lizards, which are used as traditional medicines in China.

The Chinese epidemic COVID-19 has now engulfed almost the entire world has killed more than 42,000 people across the world. More than 8.8 lakhs have been tested positive after coming in contact with Chinese virus COVID-19.

The United States of America leads the tally with 188,578 active cases and 3,890 deaths. Italy has seen the highest number of deaths with 12,428 succumbing to the Chinese virus out of the 105,792 affected. Interestingly, China which is the epicentre, according to its official figures, has only lost 3,305 people to the deadly pandemic.

To whitewash Tablighi Jamaat’s deeds, Founder-Editor of The Wire spreads fake news about Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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To whitewash Tablighi Jamaat’s deeds, Founder-Editor of The Wire spreads fake news about Yogi Adityanath

No sooner did the news of Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin emerged as the newest hostpot for coronavirus outbreak, the ‘liberals’ huddled up to absolve the congregation of defying orders and putting public health and safety at risk.

Siddharth Varadarajan’s tweet after Tablighi Jamaat emerged as hotspot

At 12:45 AM on 31 March 2020, The Wire Founder-Editor Siddharth Varadarajan tweeted a link claiming that the Nehru Stadium in Delhi will be converted into quarantine facility. While sharing it, Varadarajan attributed a quote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Varadarjan claimed that on the day Tablighi Jamaat event was being held, “Adityanath insisted a large Ram Navami fair planned for Ayodhya from March 25 to April 2 would proceed as usual and that ‘Lord Ram would protect devotees from the coronavirus”.

The Wire’s report has very explicitly attributed the quote to Yogi Adityanath.

The Wire attributing a quote to Yogi Adityanath.

Netizens took to Twitter to call out the lies of Varadarajan where he not only makes sweeping statements and misattributes statements to UP CM but also gives a clean chit to Tablighi Jamaat.

Swarajya Magazine journalist Arush Tandon in a series of tweets pointed out how Varadarajan blatantly lied.

Tandon says that he Googled the exact phrase used by Varadarajan to see reports where Yogi Adityanath had made such a statement.

Google search results of the phrase.

As we can see, the first few search results don’t show that the statement was given by Yogi Adityanath. However, the Deccan Herald report does mention similar phrase which is the third search result.

Deccan Herald report from March 17

To check the source of The Wire’s attribution to Yogi Adityanath, OpIndia clicked on the article hyperlinked in the original article. It led to an 18 March 2020 article from The Wire, where it had credited Deccan Herald for the same quote.

The Wire crediting the quote to Deccan Herald in its 18 March 2020 report

As it can be seen, The Wire in its original article, was at least honest in attributing the quote to one Mahant Paramhans and not to Yogi Adityanath. Now, here it is imperative to note that as on March 20, 2020, the Ayodhya Mela stood cancelled. Tablighi Jamaat was held on 21st March 2020 even after precautionary measures were taken across the country to limit huge gatherings and practice social distancing.

However, there is more to this.

Who is Mahant Paramhans whose words are being taken at facevalue by the propagandists? On November 17, 2019 Paramhans Das, disciple of Mahant Sarveshwar Das, head of Tapasvi Ki Chhavni, was expelled from the organisation for allegedly making objectionable comments against Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas chief Mahant Nritya Gopal Das. Das, whose original name was Uday Narain Das, was a self-proclaimed mahant and ‘jagatguru’ and had never discharged his duties as a saint. 

So, essentially, the Founder-Editor of The Wire took quotes of an expelled mahant and misattributed them to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to whitewash the Tablighi Jamaat superspreaders.

The Uttar Pradesh government has now swung into action and has asked Varadarajan to delete his tweet wrongly attributing a quote to UP CM or he the government will initiate action.

“Delete the tweet or we will initiate action including defamation case. Along with asking for donation to run the website, you will also have to ask for money to fight the case,” Mrityunjay Kumar, UP CM’s Media Advisor tweeted.

The Tablighi Jamaat has emerged as the latest hotspot after dozens of COVID-19 positive cases were traced back to Nizamuddin in Delhi where hundreds of Muslims had gathered on 21 March 2020 for three-day Islamic evangelical event. As of 1st April, 2100 Muslims were evacuated from the building in Nizamuddin and sent to isolation ward. Investigation is currently underway and efforts are being made to trace those who had attended as well as those who had come in contact with them.

Tablighi Jamaat committed a ‘Talibani crime’, their sin is unpardonable: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

OpIndia Staff
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Tablighi Jamaat committed a ‘Talibani crime’, their sin is unpardonable: Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Launching a scathing attack on the Tablighi Jamaat for emerging as a hotspot for spreading the Chinese coronavirus in the country, Union Minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday said Tablighi Jamaat had committed a “Talibani crime” by holding a religious gathering in middle of pandemic.

Union Minister Naqvi called the crime committed by the Islamic organisation an “unpardonable sin” after the event organised by the Jamaat resulted in spreading coronavirus to hundreds of the people across the country.

“When the entire country is fighting against corona, such a “sin” is unpardonable,” Naqvi tweeted. Speaking to Times of India, he said that when the whole country is struggling to combat the Chinese coronavirus, Tablighi Jamaat letting so many people gather together under one roof, especially people from foreign country, is “unacceptable”. He even pointed out that the Jamaat should’ve taken a cue from the Mecca and Madina where people are not being allowed to congregate since a while now.

The Tablighi Jamaat – a religious event held On March 21 in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area by the Muslim organisation, has turned out to be an epicentre of the Chinese coronavirus transmission in the country. The event has now sparked off a huge scare as most of the attendees have reportedly spread the Chinese virus across the country.

According to the Union Home Ministry, as 2100 foreigners, out of which around 1530 hailed from India and rest from the foreign countries, visited India for Tablighi activities since January 1 and all of them first reported at its headquarters in Nizamuddin in the national capital.

The Home Ministry said the Muslims who had taken part in the event later returned to their homes in virtually every state. Many of these states, which have reported COVID-19 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

‘The killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan’, claims research paper published by Chinese scientists

OpIndia Staff
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‘The killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan’, claims research paper published by Chinese scientists

As the world is debating on the culpability of China over the spread of Chinese virus COVID-19, a paper published by Chinese scientists suggests that the virus ‘probably’ originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China. On Tuesday, American journalist Tucker Carlson aired a report on his talk show publishing the findings of the report asserting that the Chinese coronavirus most likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory.

Citing a report from Botao Xiao and Lei Xiao of the South China University of Technology discussing the origins of the Wuhan Coronavirus, Tucker Carlson brought attention to a raging debate that has been happening across the world lately on the possibility of COVID-19 being a human-made virus that got accidentally leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.

Carlson went on to cite the paper, as he conceded that he could not independently confirm, noting that the information was at least worthy of consideration. The Fox News Anchor said, “On February 6th, scientists from the South China University of Technology uploaded a paper on the origins of coronavirus. Where did it come from? Well, this offers some clue. At the time the official death toll in China from the coronavirus was 564. The paper made a number of notable observations and claims that are worth knowing about and that’s why we are telling you. We want to be clear that we aren’t endorsing any of these conclusions, we haven’t independently confirmed them. We can’t.”

The report detailed the tracing of COVID-19 to the intermediate host Horseshoe bat, a bat that they confirmed was not available at the Wuhan wet market and did not live locally. In fact, the report noted that native populations were no closer than 900kms away from the first known cases, making a natural transmission from bat to human appear more unlikely. According to the Chinese research paper, the only place those particular bats existed locally was inside a research facility which was just several hundred yards from the Wuhan wet market. The paper strongly concluded that the coronavirus pandemic had likely been the result of a leak from the lab.

The Huanan Seafood Market is close to the WHCDC (map cited in the paper from Baidu and Google maps).

The paper observed, “The bats carrying CoV ZC45 were originally found in Yunnan or Zhejiang province, both of which were more than 900 kilometres away from the seafood market. Bats were normally found to live in caves and trees. But the seafood market is in a densely-populated district of Wuhan, a metropolitan of ~15 million people. The probability was very low for the bats to fly to the market. According to municipal reports and the testimonies of 31 residents and 28 visitors, the bat was never a food source in the city, and no bat was traded in the market. There was possible natural recombination or an intermediate host of the coronavirus, yet little proof has been reported.”

The paper notes the possibility that the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention played a prominent role in the outbreak of the pandemic. It stated, “Surgery was performed on the caged animals and the tissue samples were collected for DNA and RNA extraction and sequencing. The tissue samples and contaminated trashes were the source of pathogens. They were only ~280 meters from the seafood market. The WHCDC was also adjacent to the Union Hospital where the first group of doctors were infected during this epidemic. It is plausible that the virus leaked around and some of them contaminated the initial patients in this epidemic, though solid proofs are needed for future study.”

The claims made by the Chinese paper

The paper further added, “The second laboratory was ~12 kilometres from the seafood market and belonged to Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This laboratory reported that the Chinese horseshoe bats were natural reservoirs for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) which caused the 2002-3 pandemic. The principal investigator participated in a project which generated a chimeric virus using the SARS-CoV reverse genetics system and reported the potential for human emergence. A direct speculation was that SARS-CoV or its derivative might leak from the laboratory.”

Read: Coronavirus pandemic: American lawyer who filed 20 trillion USD lawsuit against China claims COVID-19 is a biological weapon developed in Wuhan laboratory

The paper concluded with the words, “In summary, somebody was entangled with the evolution of 2019-nCoV coronavirus. In addition to origins of natural recombination and intermediate host, the killer coronavirus probably originated from a laboratory in Wuhan. Safety level may need to be reinforced in high-risk biohazardous laboratories. Regulations may be taken to relocate these laboratories far away from city centre and other densely populated places.”

Tucker Carlson concluded his remarks on his show with the words, “Now this paper’s been online for nearly two months and so far it has been virtually ignored in this country. Almost nobody in American journalism has dared to write about it. The few who have were immediately attacked as dangerous conspiracy theorists. Instead of assessing what seemed like the rational conclusions presented in the Chinese paper, there was a spate of American news stories and academic research designed to show that the coronavirus absolutely could not have been engineered in a Chinese lab. They sounded supremely confident of that, but do they really know it? And the answer is no they don’t. As a factual matter, it is impossible for Western scientists to settle the question either way. So instead of doing that or admitting that, they amped up the rhetoric hoping you wouldn’t notice the difference.”

The Chinese epidemic has now engulfed almost the entire world has killed more than 42,000 people across the world. More than 8.8 lakhs have been tested positive after coming in contact with Chinese virus COVID-19. The United States of America leads the tally with 188,578 active cases and 3,890 deaths. Italy has seen the highest number of deaths with 12,428 succumbing to the Chinese virus out of the 105,792 affected. Interestingly, China which is the epicentre, according to its official figures, has only lost 3,305 people to the deadly pandemic.

French Church’s mega congregation in February linked to over 2500 cases of coronavirus across 4 countries

OpIndia Staff
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French Church’s mega congregation in February linked to over 2500 cases of coronavirus across 4 countries

A Church in the Mulhouse city of France that had organized a mega celebration in mid-February has now been linked to at least 2500 positive coronavirus cases across four different nations.

As per a Reuters report, the celebrations at the ‘Open Door Church’, in France lasted for a week starting on 18 February and was attended by persons who were already infected with the coronavirus.

As a result, the Christian congregation became another ‘super spreader’ since at least 2500 individuals across four countries such as France, Burkina Faso, Guyana, Switzerland, and Corsica infected with coronavirus have now been traced to the Open Door Church.

The week-long event witnessed attendance ranging from 1,000 to 2,500 per session. It was in late February when coronavirus had already hit various countries across the world. Reportedly, 17 members of the Church congregation have succumbed to COVID-19 novel coronavirus.

One of the infected attendees included employees at the French nuclear power plant and Peugeot Citroen Factory. A woman who was tested positive was a 70-year-old from the island of Corsica, a pastor Mamadou Karambiri who resides in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.

The head of the eastern France health agency, Christopher Lannelongue had earlier said that he expects more confirmed cases of coronavirus infection to appear in the region as the recent discoveries were of the 10 cases in the two families and all were linked to the evangelist church’s event in which over 2,000 people took part on an average.

Similar cases of coronavirus clusters have been seen in South Korea’s Sincheonji Church, where congregations led to dozens of positive cases. In India, Pakistan, Malaysia and several other places, the Tablighi Jamat’s Iztema have now been found to be behind infection and spreading of several dozen cases.

Coronavirus: No N95 masks or critical PPEs are being exported, govt allays fears in wake of claims on social media

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: No N95 masks or critical PPEs are being exported, govt allays fears in wake of claims on social media

On 29 March, India supplied 90 tonnes of medical protective equipment to Serbia to help the country in fighting the Chinese coronavirus outbreak.

Similar tweet of goods being exported to Serbia from Cochin Customs House also raised similar concerns.

The medical equipment was purchased by the Serbian government and was funded by the European Union. However, many in India felt that this supply of medical equipment to Serbia was little irresponsible on part of Indian government as India itself running short on personal protection equipment and other critical gear.

OpIndia reached out to government officials in the know of the things who clarified that the medical equipments sent to Serbia other then being done on humanitarian grounds is not affecting India’s stock of critical gear needed by medical professionals. “There are presently 33 units in India making surgical gloves, with installed capacity of more than 10 crore pairs per month. Capacity utilisation is in the range of 20-30 % due to adverse market conditions. There is no shortage of the raw material of rubber latex too. Hence, any export will only help poor rubber farmers and increase their income,” top government source in the know of things told OpIndia.

In fact, India provided 15 tonnes of medical equipments to China worth Rs 2.11 crore when the communist country was hit by the outbreak. The deadly COVID-19 virus originated in China’s Wuhan which has infected over 7 lakh people worldwide and has left thousands dead. Moreover, India had banned export of the crucial N95 masks and personal protection equipments (PPEs) since January 31, 2020 [DGFT circular – pdf]. In an amended order also, the DGFT had allowed export of only surgical and disposable masks and all gloves except NBR gloves [pdf]. The PPEs and N95 masks continued to remain restricted even in that order. Hand Sanitizers and ventilators are prohibited from export from 24 March 2020. Textile raw materials for masks and coveralls are also prohibited from export from 19 March 2020 [pdf].

Moreover, the Indian government has reiterated time and again that the authorities have sufficient stock of crucial medical equipment needed to fight the Chinese coronavirus. Hence, while the concerns of some could be genuine and not politically motivated, they are unfounded.

Andaman and Nicobar: COVID-19 positive patients who had attended Tablighi Jamat event in Delhi misleading police over contact history, FIR lodged

OpIndia Staff
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Andaman and Nicobar: COVID-19 positive patients who had attended Tablighi Jamat event in Delhi misleading police over contact history, FIR lodged

The Deputy Commissioner of South Andaman District has ordered to register FIR against two people who have been tested positive for COVID-19 for giving misleading information as authorities tried tracing their contacts. The two people are identified as Farzand Ali and S Rehman.

According to the reports, the two individuals, who had attended the controversial Islamic event in Delhi, have been giving wrong information about the places they visited during the home quarantine period apart from violating the terms and conditions of home quarantine.

Meanwhile, deputy director health and nodal officer in Andaman and Nicobar, Abhijit Roy, on Tuesday informed that nine out of the 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus in the Islands had attended the Islamic event at Nizamuddin dargah, the tenth positive case is the wife of one of them.

As per ANI reports, seven people from Port Blair and eight from Mayabunder in Middle Andaman, all aged between 22 and 68 years, visited Markaz in Delhi were from Tabligh Jamat. Fourteen of them travelled in MV Swaraj Dweep ship on February 17 from Andaman around 6pm and reached Visakhapatnam on February 20 where the 15th person, who took an IndiGo flight, joined them.

The Muslims from Andaman had stayed at various local mosques in Visakhapatnam from February 20 to March 15. On March 16, they left for Delhi by train and reached Nizamuddin Markaz on March 19.

The investigation has further revealed that from March 19-23, they stayed in Nizamuddin in the national capital and attended the congregation.

Read: Delhi Police writes to Delhi govt demanding immediate action against 157 foreign nationals at Tablighi Jamaat, had warned them to vacate mosque, releases video

In the meantime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown and in a hurry, of the 15 members, seven took a Vistara flight and two boarded IndiGo on March 24 from Delhi to Port Blair. Nine people reached Port Blair and during screening, they were caught and later sent to quarantine. However, one of them was in home isolation before being sent to a hospital and later, his wife also tested positive.

The religious event held on March 21 in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area by the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic fundamentalist organisation, has now sparked off a huge scare as most of the attendees have reportedly spread the Chinese virus across the country. More than 1700 Muslims had assembled for Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz in South Delhi out of which around 1530 hailed from India and rest from the foreign countries.

The thousands who took part in the event later returned to their homes in virtually every state. Many of these states, which have reported COVID-19 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. The state governments have now started identifying and locating these people in order to stop the transmission of Chinese virus among other members.

At least 10 people are dead after testing positive for the Chinese virus following their presence at the Markaz in early March. According to the latest reports, 50 in Tamil Nadu, 24 in Delhi, 18 in Kashmir, 15 fresh in Telangana, ten in Andaman and Nicobar, four in Andhra Pradesh have been tested positive for the disease so far.

Coronavirus: Over 130 from Pune attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, 60 traced, many untraceable

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Over 130 from Pune attended Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, 60 traced, many untraceable

Over 130 people from Pune had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin which has emerged as the latest hotspot for the contagion in India. Thousands of people attended the event that took place in third week of March and many of the attendees took the infection with them to their own hometowns when they travelled back.

As reported by news agency ANI, 60 Jamaatis have been traced till now and are put under quarantine. None of them are showing symptoms. However, of the remaining attendees, many of them are not in Pune and some are even untraceable. Pune administration is currently searching for them.

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

Pune has registered two new cases yesterday while 16 more people tested positive for COVID19 in Mumbai. Total number of positive cases in Maharashtra is now 320. 12 people have lost their lives in Maharashtra till now due to Chinese coronavirus.

West Bengal: Mamata govt acknowledged the issue of sub-standard PPE gears on social media platform but illegally detained doctor for pointing it out

OpIndia Staff
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West Bengal: Mamata govt acknowledged the issue of sub-standard PPE gears on social media platform but illegally detained doctor for pointing it out

A doctor in West Bengal who had raised concerns on social media over the lack of PPE for medical staffers handling coronavirus cases in the state was allegedly targeted and victimised by the state administration and police.

Through a series of tweets, BJP’s Amit Malviya revealed how a reputed doctor was victimised by West Bengal administration, at the behest of “higher-ups”, for notifying the flaws of the state authorities in handling the Coronavirus pandemic in the state. How his critically ill, cancer patients were hounded. And how he was later let off, only after posting a tweet effusively praising West Bengal government.

As per the Tweet, one reputed Oncologist Dr Indranil Khan, based in Kolkata, had raised the issue of sub-standard Personal protective equipment (PPE) gears for doctors and nurses in West Bengal to the state health department. He took to Twitter to share pictures, highlighting how frontline health workers, handling patients infected with the deadly and highly contagious Wuhan Coronavirus, were given raincoats instead of appropriate medical gears.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare, West Bengal had responded to Dr Indranil Khan’s tweet on March 29, saying: “Dear Doctor Khan, thank you for highlighting this matter. We are taking immediate steps to not only to reject any defective or substandard piece (that does not conform to the health department’s approved sample) but also supply the PPE of microfibre variety subject to availability.

While one hand the State’s health department acknowledged Dr Khan’s “concern with due sincerity” and offered “necessary steps to resolve the issue”, but on the other hand, on the very same day he was allegedly picked up by Maheshtala police station and detained illegally overnight at the Zinzira Bazar Investigation Center.

Amit Malviya has written that the doctor was picked up at 9:30 pm on Sunday, March 29 and detained until 2 pm the next day. No FIR or detention was recorded. The doctor’s mobile was seized by the police authorities, but this was not recorded either. His critically ill cancer patients were hounded. Police officials admitted that this was being done at the behest of ‘higher-ups’, revealed the BJP leader.

As per Malviya’s tweet, merely hours after Dr Indranil Khan took to the micro-blogging site to thank the state Health Department for acknowledging his concern, he was illegally arrested by the state police and only released after he posted a Tweet praising the government and apologising for his earlier tweet.

The death count and the number of people affected by the Wuhan coronavirus are steadily rising in West Bengal. Although the spread of the virus in the State has been relatively slow compared to some other States, its rapid increase in the last week of March is a cause for concern. The first case in the State was reported on March 17 and until March 24 the number was below 10, with one casualty on March 23. However, as of the morning of March 31, the number of cases had shot up to 26.

Delhi Police writes to Delhi govt demanding immediate action against 157 foreign nationals at Tablighi Jamaat, had warned them to vacate mosque, releases video

OpIndia Staff
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Delhi Police writes to Delhi govt demanding immediate action against 157 foreign nationals at Tablighi Jamaat, had warned them to vacate mosque, releases video

The Delhi Police on Wednesday wrote to Delhi Government seeking immediate action against the accused including 157 foreign nationals associated with Tablighi Jamaat meet in Nizamuddin, who are presently staying at various mosques and places in Delhi. This comes after the Delhi Police had registered FIR against Tablighi Jamaat preacher Maulana Saad and other members of the outfit under section 3 of The Epidemic Diseases Act (1897) for organizing the congregation at the times of severe lockdown amidst the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday evening also released a video dated March 23 of Nizamuddin Station House Officer (SHO) giving a stern warning to senior members of the Markaz Nizamuddin which played host to the controversial Tablighi Jamaat gathering.

This Islamic gathering has resulted in the spread of the Chinese coronavirus as those who attended took the viral infection to different parts of the country. In the video, the SHO can be heard warning the organisers for allowing 1,500- 2,000 Muslims to stay inside the Markaz despite repetitive directives and warnings. The angry SHO then stated that clear cut instructions have been given to prevent a gathering of over five people to ensure their own safety.

“Aap logon ko baar baar aagah karne ke bavajood bhi ye samasya hal nahin ho rahi hai (Despite repeated warnings this issue is not being resolved)”, said the SHO.

After serving a notice to one of the individuals present there the police officer makes it clear that if the directions are not followed he will be forced to take strict legal action. He also instructed the attendees to talk to the SDM for evacuating the 1,000 odd individuals remaining in the mosque premises.

The religious event held On March 21 in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area by the Tablighi Jamaat, a Sunni organisation, has now sparked off a huge scare as most of the attendees have reportedly spread the Chinese virus across the country. More than 1700 Muslims had assembled for Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz in South Delhi out of which around 1530 hailed from India and rest from the foreign countries.

The thousands who took part in the event later returned to their homes in virtually every state. Many of these states, which have reported COVID-19 cases are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. The state governments have now started identifying and locating these people in order to stop the transmission of Chinese virus among other members.

On Tuesday, the Home Ministry had blacklisted nearly 800 Islamic preachers for violating visa rules by visiting India on a tourist visa and attended the Islamic religious conference organised by the “Tablighi Jamaat”. The preachers were found staying at the Banglewali Masjid, the Mosque near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, earlier this month.

Another batch 48 foreigners who were hiding in mosques after attending the Markaz gathering in Nizamuddin have been located in five mosques of North-East District of Delhi by the Delhi police.

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