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India has managed to flatten the Coronavirus curve despite Tablighi Jamaat cases: Here are the facts and charts

OpIndia Staff
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India has managed to flatten the Coronavirus curve despite Tablighi Jamaat cases: Here are the facts and charts

Just strategists and experts started believing that India may have flattened the Wuhan Corornavirus curve with the strict 21-day nationwide lockdown, the Tablighi Jamaat super spreader caused a Coronavirus explosion in India and pushed back our efforts in fighting the pandemic.

Over 95% of the coronavirus cases reported over the last two days in India have been found to have links with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi. However, due to the relentless efforts of the government to contact trace and quarantine effectively, India’s coronavirus spread curve flattened again yesterday, giving rise to the hope that if we could maintain this, India might be back on track soon.

Economist Shamika Ravi, who is currently the Director of Research at Brookings India and former member, PM’s Economic Advisory Council, in a series of Tweets today shared some graphical representation of statistical data showing a welcome turn in the Coronavirus growth rate in India where the curve seems to have flattened. She believes that even though it is a little too early to comment, but, if this trend continues, it will soon bring some relief for India.

The first graph she shares shows the countries with 50,000+ confirmed cases and India as on April 4, 2020. The graph shows the countries where the confirmed Coronavirus cases have doubled in two, three and five days.

Compared to countries like the US and Spain which have regularly seen cases doubling every 2 days as well as 3 days, as on March 23 India saw a reduction in growth rate from cases doubling every 3 days to 5 days.

The economist credits this to the restrictions imposed by various states and the centre as on March 12, namely:

  • Travel ban and restrictions for certain oversees countries imposed by the central government.
  • State-imposed shut down of school, colleges and public places.
  • States passed stringent quarantine laws

According to the March 29 update, there was once again an increase in India’s growth rate from cases doubling every 5 days to every 4 days. This Shamika Ravi says was probably the effect of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi held between March 13 to March 15.

Graph depicting the Coronavirus spread in India shared by Shamika Ravi

In the second tweet, Ravi shares two graphs, In the first graph the orange line represents the total number of confirmed cases in India from March 21 to April 4. As we can see in the graph India saw a sudden surge in cases from March 31 to April 2, the sudden spike is probably due to the Tablighi Jamaat cases, however, the graphical representation shows that after April 2 until April 4 the yellow line is flat. This means that according to the last two days statistics the growth curve has flattened for India. This can again, safely be attributed to the exemplary efforts of the government who are successfully contact tracing and then promptly isolating those tracked.

Graph depicting the Coronavirus spread in India shared by Shamika Ravi

The second graph displays how the active cases in the last five day in India have grown by 20.6%

Graph depicting the Coronavirus spread in India shared by Shamika Ravi

In the next tweet, the economists again by the means to two graphical representation depicts that the Compound daily growth rate of confirmed cases in India has steadied at 13.05%. She confirms that they have “introduced a new statistic for improved understanding of #Covid19India trends – 5day moving average of new confirmed cases – and it shows a welcome flattening”.

The first graph represents the compound daily growth rate from day 0, when the first case was reported, as of April 4, 2020. And the second graph is a reprsentaion of the 5-day moving average of new confirmed cases in India.

Graph 1
Graph 2

In the subsequent tweet, Ravi shows the total Chinese Coronavirus related deaths across major hotspot countries, and in India. According to the graph, amongst all the select countries, the mortality rate per million as on April 4 is the lowest in India.

Graph depicting the Coronavirus spread in India shared by Shamika Ravi

In her last tweet, Ravi graphically breaks up the total confirmed cases into 3 categories:

  • Total number of active cases as on April 4
  • Total number of recovered cases as on April 4
  • Total number of deaths as on April 4

Here she is comparing data from countries which have recorded 50,000+ cases, India and south Korea.

Graph depicting the Coronavirus spread in India shared by Shamika Ravi

If we are to believe these statistics, India’s Coronavirus spread curve has flattened again in the last two days, leading us to hope that the 2-day spike was largely because of the Tablighi Jamaat super spreader effect.

As per the ministry of health and family welfare statistics, the 647 Coronavirus cases reported over the last two days have been linked to the Tablighi Jamaat. The ministry data shows the two-day increase as 664 in India – 328 on Thursday and 336 on Friday.

“There has been an increase in cases over the last two days. Though COVID-19 positive cases were being reported, the surge has happened only over the last two days. This shows that one mistake can have repercussions and can put us back our efforts in fighting such a pandemic,” said Joint Secretary (Health) Lav Agarwal.

Tablighi Jamaat links have been found in cases across 14 states including Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

The religious congregation has also put Maharashtra at the top of the statewise active Coronavirus cases, pushing behind Tamil Nadu. The state-wise ministry data as on April 4 had Maharashtra with 423 active cases and Tamil Nadu with 411.

The official data according to the ministry’s official website at on Saturday put the total number of cases in India at 2902 and 68 deaths.

A day after testing positive for Coronavirus, pregnant wife of AIIMS doctor delivers a healthy baby

OpIndia Staff
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A day after testing positive for Coronavirus, pregnant wife of AIIMS doctor delivers a healthy baby

While the whole country is under a severe lockdown due to a novel coronavirus outbreak which has infected nearly 3000 till now in India, a woman who was diagnosed with COVID-19 has delivered a baby on Friday night. The woman is the wife of a senior doctor at AIIMS, Delhi, and he was also tested positive for Wuhan Coronavirus.

Reports say that both mother and the boy are healthy. However, they have been kept under isolation and being monitored continuously. This is the first baby to be born to a COVID-19 positive mother in Delhi.

“Both the mother and the baby are healthy. The baby was delivered a week early, through C-section. At present, the infant has been kept with the mother since he will require breastfeeding. So far, there is no evidence that the infection can be transmitted through breastfeeding. While the mother has tested positive for COVID-19, she is asymptomatic. We will be collecting samples of the infant too,” a senior doctor from AIIMS said.

According to the World Health Organisation guidelines, Women with COVID-19 can breastfeed if they wish to do so, but they need to take precautions. They should practice respiratory hygiene during feeding, should wear a mask where available. should wash hands before and after touching the baby, and the surfaces they have touched should by routinely clean and disinfected.

WHO says that they still do not know if a pregnant woman with COVID-19 can pass the virus to her foetus or baby during pregnancy or delivery. To date, the virus has not been found in samples of amniotic fluid or breastmilk, they say.

As per reports, the AIIMS doctor and his wife were confirmed positive of COVID-19 on Thursday. The senior resident doctor from the Physiology Department in AIIMS was posted at Emergency. The husband’s report came in the morning while the wife’s report came in the evening. She was 9 months pregnant who gave birth to a healthy baby on Friday night.

On Friday, the doctor’s brother also tested positive for the disease.

About 9 doctors in the National Capital Territory of Delhi have been infected by coronavirus so far. Two resident doctors of Safdarjung hospital were also tested positive of the novel COVID-19 on Wednesday. It was told that a doctor involved in the team treating the COVID-19 patients in the hospital were infected on duty. At the same time, in the postgraduate course in the Department of Biochemistry, a female resident doctor of the third year has also been infected.

She had recently gone abroad. Both showed symptoms of COVID-19 and their test report came positive two days ago. Both are being treated in a separate ward of Safdarjung hospital.

Meanwhile, 50 doctors across India have been tested positive of novel corona virus due to contact with patients and other reasons.

Mumbai: Dharavi man who died of Coronavirus hosted 10 Tablighi Jamaat members

OpIndia Staff
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Mumbai: Dharavi man who died of Coronavirus hosted 10 Tablighi Jamaat members

Even as the authorities are struggling to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the mass congregation by the rabid Islamist organisation Tablighi Jamaat at Markaz Nizamuddin, now the Mumbai Police probe into the death of a 56-year old man in Dharavi, who died of COVID-19 on April 1, has revealed that he had hosted 10 Tablighi Jamaat members in the last week of March.

According to the Mumbai Police, “Prima Facie, the man was infected by one of the visitors.” adding that the Jamaat members stayed in the deceased’s one of the vacant houses in Dharavi during the duration from March 22 to March 24 and later visited him before heading for Kerala.

A police official from Shahu Nagar police station in Mumbai stated that they have informed about the Jamaat members to the Kerala government for them to trace, isolate and test them. Confirming the development, Deputy Commissioner of Police Niyati Thaker said that an investigation has been ordered in the matter about the connection of the death with Tablighi Jamaat. The police have also been involved in tracing the deceased man’s contacts.

Besides, a list of 15 immediate high-risk contacts has been prepared by the city’s Municipal corporation which includes the dead man’s wife, his four sons, two daughters, immediate neighbours, the local doctor who he had consulted and two of the staff at the doctor’s clinic. They all have been tested for the novel coronavirus. The test results of the high-risk contacts are still awaited.

Dharavi has been put under close observation after 3 cases of the coronavirus infection emerged from the region. Many buildings, shops in the neighbourhood have locked themselves to keep all the visitors out.

The cases of Coronavirus in Maharashtra have skyrocketed lately. A total of 490 positive cases, including foreign nationals, have emerged in Maharashtra, making it the state with the highest number of COVID-19 cases nationally. Mumbai, the financial capital of the country and Maharashtra’s capital has been in the grips of the deadly contagion, with 47 fresh cases surfacing on Friday. As many as four people have died of the contagion in Mumbai and the officials are afraid that the city might fast devolve into another coronavirus hotspot like Delhi after Tablighi Jamaat connection with the Dharavi death was discovered.

Last month, several hundred people from across India and abroad had attended the Islamic religious conference by the “Tablighi Jamaat” preachers at the Banglewali Masjid, the Mosque near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah. Many cases of coronavirus deaths have now been traced to the Muslim event at the Banglewali Mosque which had seen a large gathering. 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. Authorities are now scrambling to trace and identify the event attendees, who are believed to be “high-risk” carriers of the infection, to avert a snowballing coronavirus crisis in the country.

India Today’s Rahul Kanwal deletes infographic on Tablighi Jamaat: A saga of ‘being apologetic about Islamism’ and wildly incorrect data

OpIndia Staff
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India Today’s Rahul Kanwal deletes infographic on Tablighi Jamaat: A saga of ‘being apologetic about Islamism’ and wildly incorrect data

As the Tablighi Jamaat which met in Delhi at Nizamuddin during the first 2 weeks of March has become the epicentre of the Novel Coronavirus spread in the country, media has started reporting how much of the total Covid-19 cases in the country is related to the congregation. In this regard. India Today’s news director Rahul Kanwal had posted an infographic on Twitter last night, but now he has deleted that post, raising speculations on why he did that.

The infographic, prepared by India Today’s so-called ‘Data Intelligence Unit’, which is known to prepare totally misleading and illogical infographics, had an image of a skullcap and a mask, with two pie diagrams making up a face. Later Kanwal posted the infographic with difference image, without the skullcap reference. The Tablighi Jamaat is a Muslim religious congregation, and this jamaat has contributed to almost one-third of coronavirus positive cases in India. Therefore, although it may be accused of Islamophobia, the image used in the earlier infographic was representative of the situation.

Left: Deleted Infographic, Right: Updated Infographic

While Rahul Kanwal or others associated with India Today generally don’t delete completely misleading charts, the fact that he deleted this one has raised the suspicion that he did this due to criticism of Islamophobia from the usual suspects.

While Kanwal was attacked by Islamists accusing him of Islamophobia for the graphic, he came under attack from right wing social media after he deleted the tweet, accusing him of not having enough courage to tell the truth. Replying to one such tweet, Rahul Kanwal came up with a strange reply, as he said that he deleted the earlier infographic as the spelling of ‘nearly’ was wrong in. Although it is correct that the word as spelled as ‘neary’ in that, it does not explain why the entire infographic had to be changed due to one typo.

Although it is most likely that the earlier chart was deleted due to accusations of Islamophobia, the chart prepared by India Today Data Intelligence Unit had more serious flaws than a typo, which Rahul Kanwal has completely missed. The chart said that new cases of Covid-19 in India during 1-3 April was 1,162, while the total confirmed cases in the country was also mentioned as 1,162. In the revised chart, the DIU has corrected the total number to 2,301.

Later Kanwal realised his error and tweeted about the same. But it still doe not explain the complete change of the infographic removing earlier imagery. They could have just updated the earlier graphic with correct spelling and number, but instead, they prepared a completely new graphic, removing the art of skullcap.

Read- No pills, Sharing unwashed utensils, washroom and water for Wuzu: How Tablighi Jamaat’s lifestyle made them super-spreaders

Both the charts also mention unnecessary data points, perhaps to make it look data heavy to show the ‘intelligence’ of DIU. While the chart says the share of Tablighi Jamaat in new positive cases in the country is 56%, it also mentions that it is ‘almost 60%’. Similarly, it says that share of the Islamic group in the total positive cases for India is 28%, and nearly 30%. When the infographic is already giving the exact numbers, to give ‘nearly’, and ‘almost’ numbers are completely unnecessary.

Coronavirus Outbreak: Funding of Islamist organisation Tablighi Jamaat under the scanner of investigative agencies

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus Outbreak: Funding of Islamist organisation Tablighi Jamaat under the scanner of investigative agencies

With the Delhi centre of Tablighi Jamaat emerging as the newest hotspot of coronavirus outbreak in the country, investigative agencies have started probing into the sources of funding and financial aid received by the conservative Islamist organisation. According to a report published in India Today, overwhelming numbers of the Jamaat’s benefactors belong to the Gulf countries.

The Delhi Police have also started probing into the finances of the organisation which came under the national limelight after organising a congregation at its Delhi centre at Markaz Nizamuddin where 1700-3000 people are believed to have participated in the event, in flagrant violation of the restrictive orders. The Delhi Police have asked questions about the finances of the organisation in its summons to the Tablighi Jamaat chief- Maulana Saad. They have reportedly sought particulars about the registration details of Markaz, its office bearers, along with details of income tax returns filed in the past three years. Their PAN numbers, bank statements, and bank account details.

Read: After Ghaziabad, Tablighi Jamaat members misbehave with Kanpur medical staff, spit everywhere, refuses treatment saying ‘no disease like Coronavirus’

In addition, the probe agencies have also asked the Islamist organisation to submit a list of its employees, the count of events organised since January 1, a layout of the premises including information on where CCTV cameras are installed.

Besides, Markaz is also direct to reproduce the details of all the devotees who have visited the centre from March 12 onwards, including those who came from abroad to participate in religious events, members who took ill and a list of inmates who were taken to hospital after March 12 and a record of attendees who have died.

Last week, 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. Out of India’s 2500 odd cases, 647 have been linked to the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat, a staggering 28 per cent of the total cases. The investigative agencies are scrambling to identify other attendees who they believe may have contracted the virus due to the unhygienic and unhealthy sanitation at the Jamaat premises.

After Ghaziabad, Tablighi Jamaat members misbehave with Kanpur medical staff, spit everywhere, refuses treatment saying ‘no disease like Coronavirus’

OpIndia Staff
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After Ghaziabad, Tablighi Jamaat members misbehave with Kanpur medical staff, spit everywhere, refuses treatment saying ‘no disease like Coronavirus’

In yet another ghastly attack on the healthcare workers by Islamists, the Tablighi Jamaat members who are quarantined at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College in Kanpur, after they attended Congregation in Nizamuddin, Delhi and came in contact with several people with Coronavirus, have misbehaved with the medical staff and spat on them during their stay at the hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, the hospital staff have accused the attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat of breaking the rules of quarantine and defying all norms of social distancing. The staff said that the Jamaat members are making unnecessary demands to the hospital staff creating difficulties in their treatment.

Dr Arati Dave Lalchandani, the Principal and Dean of the GSVM Medical College, lashed out at Jamaat people adding they are not cooperating with the doctors, nurses and other staff. She further added that hospital health care staff are trying to serve them with utmost sincerity but the Tablighi Jamaat members are not cooperating saying there is no disease like coronavirus.

“We had 22 people for two days who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Markaz, Nizamuddin in Delhi. Our team of doctors, staff and nurses were taking care of them in rotation. However, the patients behaved rudely with the medical team, they misbehaved, spit here and there and also used to huddle up together in the hall despite being repeatedly told not to do so,” Dr Lalchandani added.

Speaking to India TV, Dr Aarti Lalchandani added that because of the help from the administration, police who have provided adequate security due to which they are able to perform duties.

She added that Tablighi Jamaat people are creating a lot of trouble to the staff. She mentioned that the Jamaat members who have been tested positive are refusing to take medicines, making unreasonable demands by asking them to provide them with new clothes, good food and something for their entertainment. 

The shocking incident at Kanpur comes after the similar incident that took place in Ghaziabad, where the Jamaat members had roamed naked in their wards and made lewd gestures at the female staff of a Ghaziabad hospital. Following this deranged behaviour by Jamaat members, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had invoked the National Security Act (NSA) against six persons from the Tablighi Jamaat and termed them “enemies of humanity”.

Tablighi Jamaat members, who are emerging as the sole reason for the sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in India, are turning out to be quite a headache for the authorities, as well as the frontline healthcare workers, doctors and nurse who are working relentlessly to cater to the Coronavirus patients amidst the pandemic.

On Thursday, an FIR was registered against six persons from Tablighi Jamaat. The Uttar Pradesh Government had also decreed that female health professionals and policewomen will not be deployed for the treatment and security of members of the Tablighi Jamaat after nurses at a hospital complained that the members of the Islamic missionary organization misbehaved with them.

In a similar incident, one such cluster of almost 89 Tablighi Jamaat attendees who have been quarantined in the Isolation Center at Madhu Resort in Sikandra space, Agra, had thrown quite a lot of tantrums, making it difficult for the medical staff to attend to them. These members of the Jamaat had refused to consume the healthy non-spicy food prescribed to them by the doctors, instead, they had made preposterous food demands like spicy beef biryani.

They had threatened the medical staff that if their demands are not met they would not consume medicines, nor would they allow the doctors or nurses to treat them. They have also warned that they would run away before the required 14-day isolation period.

It was earlier reported that how these occupants had made unreasonable demands for food, misbehaved and abused staff members and started spitting all over and on persons working/attending them, including doctors in Delhi. In a bid to spread the infection, some also urinated in the open, outside the isolation wards. They also started roaming around the hostel building.

Prayagraj police arrest one Mohammed Saheed for spreading fake news on coronavirus on Whatsapp to incite public

OpIndia Staff
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Prayagraj police arrest one Mohammed Saheed for spreading fake news on coronavirus on Whatsapp to incite public

The Uttar Pradesh police have arrested a person named Mohammed Shaheed in Prayagraj on charges of spreading fake news and rumours on coronavirus through WhatsApp, reports ANI.

A statement issued by Prayagraj police said that Shaheed was spreading rumours on Coronavirus from his mobile number 9699273740. He has been booked under section 188/153 of the IPC, section 3 of the Epidemic Act 1897 and section 66A of the IT Act.

28 year old Md Shaheed is a resident of Fajlabad Urf Kaloopur in Prayagraj.

statement on the arrest by police

In a similar incident in Rampur, the admin of a WhatsApp group has been arrested by the police for spreading inflammatory videos on various WhatsApp groups. The accused Aftab alias Buffaur Rahman, a resident of the village, ran a WhatsApp group, in which he shared provocative fake messages. He has been arrested by the Rampur police.

Shockingly, it is alleged that hundreds of members including several Delhi MLAs and some white-collar members were part of the group. As soon as the video went viral, there was a scare in the city. The matter was soon reported to the Superintendent of Police Rampur. 

Another accused Riyazuddin, who runs a private school in Mohalla Chak Swar, has also been arrested by the Rampur police for sharing fake news on Whatsapp to incite people during the nation-wide lockdown.

Residents of Nizamuddin Basti near Tablighi Jamaat Markaz refuse to share health details with officials, claims it threatens their citizenship

OpIndia Staff
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Residents of Nizamuddin Basti near Tablighi Jamaat Markaz refuse to share health details with officials, claims it threatens their citizenship

The residents of the Nizamuddin Basti, the locality which has become the epicentre of the coronavirus spread in the country, are reportedly not cooperating with the health officials as they are refusing to share health details amidst the scare of the health pandemic in the country.

According to an Economic Times report, the government officials had visited residents of Nizamuddin Basti, situated close to the Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters at Banglewali Masjid, on Friday in the wake of transmission of the coronavirus by attendees of Tablighi Jamaat.

The officials had asked the residents to fill up forms with details about their health conditions and travel histories. This is part of the exercise under the Disease Surveillance Programme, where the Centre and the health department officials visited every house in Nizamuddin Basti and asked people to fill up a form with ten questions and list the head of the family, details of the other members, whether any of them had shown symptoms of fever, cough or respiratory problems, contact and address details of the people they regularly meet, travel data of any place outside Delhi, data of doctors they consulted and history of medical illness among others.

This exercise has now sparked unrest in parts of the area, with some people refusing to share details with the officials saying the data collection exercise was a “threat to their citizenship”.

According to the health officials, the exercise is a regular practice in times of an outbreak. The officials were assisted by experts in healthcare from the Aga Khan Foundation who asked the residents to “not hide any of their health issues, and get in touch with their Sehat Aapas”. A senior government official speaking to ET said that this was an attempt to “identify if there was any community transmission”. He added that given its proximity to the Markaz, the locality is a potential hotspot. For necessary steps to be taken, the data is important, he added.

Shockingly, the residents of the basti have now refused to fill out the form. The controversial Islamic body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, which is influential in the area, questioned the officials on the purpose of their visit.

“The doctors had come that day, and people with symptoms had self-identified themselves. They have all been quarantined. There is no need for written forms, mobile and address details… they can always speak to us and get details,” said a member of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind member also questioned the need of health officials visit when the entire basti was cordoned off, and at a time people are staying at home. “What is the need for outsiders to come and carry out such an extensive exercise with so many data points?” he asked.

The member said the basti’s residents were being visited by officials almost daily, and that every precaution was being followed. “Even the chemist shops have been told to have only three customers at any given time. We are only against unauthorised data collection,” he said.

The non-co-operation by Muslim residents has continued ever since the reports that Tablighi Jamaat is the primary sources of transmission of coronavirus in the country emerged. A series of attacks have been unleashed against health workers, policemen who have been fighting at the forefront to collect information regarding the people who may have carried the Chinese virus after visiting the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi.

Tablighi Jamaat members, who are emerging as the sole reason for the sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases in India, are turning out to be quite a headache for the authorities. The anti-social behaviour of attendees of Tablighi Jamaat has left the authorities and medical teams completely distraught.

From attacking medical teams who were searching for Tablighi members for who had attended the religious congregation to check them for possible infection, to spiting on doctors at an Isolation centre, to roaming naked in their ward and making lewd gestures for female staff, these attendees have been displaying extreme crassness.

The Tablighi Jamaat is has become the epicentre of the transmission of the Chinese coronavirus across the country. 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. In India, the Jamaat has come under severe criticism for defying the lockdown and organising a congregation.

The Jamaat members taking buses and trains to their respective localities all over India has resulted in a massive nation-wide spread within a span of few days. As per government reports, over 9000 Tablighi Jamaat attendees and their primary contacts have so far been quarantined. At least 700 positive cases from Tablighi event has been reported in the last two days and few of them have died.

Coronavirus fight: Advanced Booking for domestic and international travel closed until April 30 by Air India

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus fight: Advanced Booking for domestic and international travel closed until April 30 by Air India

Even though the nationwide lockdown imposed in the wake of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak is until April 14, an Air India official informed that advanced flight booking for both domestic and international air travel via the national carrier has been suspended until April 30. It is crucial to remember that the Cabinet Secretary had earlier informed that the Government had no plans for extending the nationwide lockdown.

On Thursday, Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said, “The ministry is proceeding on the understanding that the lockdown is in place till April 15. There is no directive from the ministry about the contingency planning of airlines. But, as an eternal optimist, I am hoping that on April 15, flights can at least start, if not all, then in a calibrated manner. But that is a decision that we still need to take,” Puri had said Thursday.

A senior government official said that Air India would wait for the government’s decision until April 14 and bookings could begin on the same day if the lockdown was not extended.

Air India has been running operations to evacuate Indian citizens stuck in foreign countries struck gravely by the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. However, it was earlier reported that members of the flight crew are facing ostracization in their neighbourhood, Air India has said on social media. The airline has requested people to ensure that “our crew are treated with the courtesy, respect, and freedom that every citizen of this country deserves especially in light of the fact of their having undertaken flight duties to affected countries to bring back Indian citizens.”

Air India said in its press release, “It is alarming to note that in many localities, vigilante Resident Welfare Associations and neighbours have started ostracizing the crew, obstructing them from performing their duty or even calling in the police, simply because the crew travelled abroad in the course of their duty. These vigilantes have conveniently forgotten that many a spouse, parent, sibling, child and near and dear one have been brought home safe and secure from affected countries, thanks to the heroic efforts of these Air India crew.”

This WSJ columnist thinks that deeply religious Muslims can’t be molesters or rapists

OpIndia Staff
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This WSJ columnist thinks that deeply religious Muslims can’t be molesters or rapists

India has been pushed into the throws of chaos after a congregation of Tablighi Jamaat. As per conservative estimates, the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat was attended by 1500 people, both from various parts of the country as well as from abroad. 10 people who attended the congregation had died of COVID-19. Despite overt symptoms of coronavirus, the rabid Islamists of Tablighi Jamaat have shown a recalcitrant attitude to cooperate with the authorities and a malevolent desire to infect those who are helping them fight the contagion.

It is estimated that over 9000 people who have come in contact with the Tablighi Jamaat members are being traced and placed into quarantine. While India tried to tame the beast unleashed by Tablighi, one cluster that was quarantined in Ghaziabad indulged in shameful, lewd behaviour towards the women staff. They roamed around without pants, naked, made lewd gestures and comments and demanded that they are given cigarettes.

As soon as the news emerged, the usual apologists for Islamists came out of the woodwork trying to defend the Jamaatis. One of them doing everything he possibly can to prove that the members of the Tablighi Jamaat were innocent, was Wall Street Journal (WSJ) columnist Sadanand Dhume.

Responding to The Wire journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani, who was also shielding Tablighi Jamaat by casting aspersions on the nurses who were subjected to humiliation by the Jamaatis, the WSJ columnist Sadanand Dhume said that he was “no fan” of the beliefs of Tablighi Jamaat but anyone who had spent time with them knew that their conservativism extends to “extreme propriety around women”.

Sadhananad Dhume did not just stop there. He then said, “Stories about their lewdness ring false. And attempts to tar Muslims, in general, are beyond despicable”.

Essentially, Dhume was saying that firstly, deeply religious Muslim men cannot be molesters or rapists and secondly, that the nurses who had complained about the Tablighi Jamaat members misbehaving with them were lying because they wished to tarnish the image of Muslims.

Read: Ummah above gender: The Wire journalist refuses to believe nurses’ complaint about Tablighi Jamaatis harassing them

The WSJ columnist, Sadanand Dhume, essentially was more than willing to believe the outward appearance of virtue by the members of the Tablighi Jamaat, however, in order to shield them, he disbelieved and discarded a written complaint by the nurses where they had elucidated how the members of the Jamaat harassed them by making lewd comments and gestures while roaming around without pants.

His misplaced defence of the barbarians did not go down well with several people who called him out for being an apologist not just for radical Islam but also crimes against women.

Pratyasha Rath, a Twitter user, said that Dhume was indulging in shameful victim-blaming. Making a pertinent point, Rath said that Dhume is victim-blaming based on his supposed experience with a handful of individuals and owing to that experience, he is negating what the victim is saying about her ordeal.

Read: Sadanand Dhume: Typical brown sepoy ‘liberal’ who peddles nonsense unfettered by reality hitting him in the face

Another Twitter user, Risha, said, “This mindset is the sole reason why we see many cases of people being raped by these godmen. Yes, they all act holier than thou about their sexuality in the public space, then blackmail their victims saying “who will believe you””.

Interestingly, this observation by Risha is extremely pertinent since Dhume had spoken about this very mindset during the MeToo movement. Though not in relation to godmen, Dhume had spoken about how powerful men get away with mistreating women because the women were scared, the men had the power and eventually, the women did not speak up because they feared their allegations against the powerful men would not be believed. While speaking in these terms during the MeToo movement, Dhume is now perpetuating the same mindset, this time, to shield radical Islamists of the Tablighi Jamaat.

Not just once, Dhume continued to peddle the same narrative even when confronted with how ridiculous his assertions were.

Interestingly, what Dhume is essentially saying that because he met a few people from the Tablighi Jamaat who he thought were “pious”, nobody from the Tablighi Jamaat could molest women and thus, the women must be lying.

In fact, a case from 2011 itself proves how shallow Dhume’s knowledge truly is. In 2011, an Imam was charged under 13 counts for sexual assault in Toronto. Mohammad Masroor, 48, worked as a travelling imam and visited numerous countries teaching children and young people Koranic studies. In their investigation, police have found Mr. Masroor to be in possession of three passports than bear names other than his own. The 13 charges against Mr. Masroor stem from alleged abuses committed against five former students. Because the imam travelled so extensively, Det. Const. Karen Armstrong said she worried there are more victims are out there, if not in Canada. The Imam was reportedly a member of the Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic movement aimed at proselytizing at the grassroots level. The movement is largely based in Bangladesh now.

There have in fact been so many cases of Imams and Maulvis raping and sexually assaulting minors that a thesis can, and perhaps should be written on why Islamic godmen indulge in crimes against women and minor boys rather rampantly. However, in order to shield the members of Tablighi Jamaat, closing one’s eyes to the truth seem to be imperative.

Read: Female healthcare and police staff not to attend to Tablighi Jamaat members after they roamed naked and made lewd gestures at nurses: Yogi govt declares

According to The Wire editor Arfa Khanum Sherwani and the WSJ columnist Sadanand Dhume, everyone is lying and even the victim nurses are engaging in propaganda but Tablighi Jamaat alone is the epitome of virtue. The people being supported and whose integrity they are vouching for are the same ones who have been spitting on doctors and others working with them in their efforts to get them infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus, and also attacking policemen and healthcare workers who are looking for people who had attended the Jamaat to screen them.

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