The Uttar Pradesh police have stated that it is conducting a search operation for the 157 people of the state who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat event at Markaz Mosque at Nizamuddin in South Delhi.
Search for 157 people of the state, who had participated in Tablighi Jamaat event at Markaz, Nizamuddin in Delhi is being done: Uttar Pradesh Police #Coronaviruspic.twitter.com/ayudoP6VPf
As the country is under the lockdown to get over the novel coronavirus outbreak, the Islamic organization Tablighi Jamaat held an Islamic congregation with thousands of Islamic believers gathered together at one place when the central and state government directory has strictly warned to avoid mass gatherings and maintain social distancing.
Yesterday, the Mosque near Nizamuddin Dargah that is the international headquarters of the Tablighi Jamat was sealed off after hundreds of people showing coronavirus symptoms were shifted to various hospitals in Delhi and over 2000 people were put under quarantine. So far, 10 deaths in several states have been traced to the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin. Several dozen active cases around the nations are under search by the state police. The authorities have now launched a massive search and listing of the people who had attended the event.
As per reports, the attendees had left the event in groups on 20-30. Many of the other attendees had also travelled across India to their respective home towns putting lives of others at risk. Tamil Nadu government has stated that over 1000 people from the state had attended the event. They have listed 819 people so far.
8 Indonesian Muslims were found from Jamunwali mosque in Bijnor. They, too, had come for the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi’s Nizamuddin. Police has registered a case under section 188, 268 and 270 against 5 people of the mosque including a maulvi.
A Markazi mosque in Kaiserbagh area of Lucknow was found sheltering foreigners from Kyrgystan and Kazakhstan since March 13, reports News 18. As per the report, following the lockdown announced to contain the Chinese coronavirus, UP Police Commissioner and DM reached the mosque and found foreign nationals living inside the mosque. They had reportedly come for a religious event. The police, acting on an intelligence tipoff, raided the mosque.
As per the report, they all are undergoing medical tests and are kept in isolation. Moreover, the report further states that many Muslims of foreign nationality were found in Madiyaun and Kakori. As per the report, 17 Muslims from Bangladesh were found in a mosque from Madiyaun.
Moreover, after Delhi’s Nizamuddin emerged as the newest hotspot for coronavirus, the administration got alert about those who attended the event. It has now been reported that 20 Lucknow residents who visited the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin have not yet returned. Neither were they found in Delhi.
Earlier today, 10 Muslims of foreign nationality were found in a mosque in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. A few days back, eleven foreign Islamic clerics (Maulvis) were nabbed from the Rargaon Mosque in the Tamar area of Ranchi amidst the threat of Chinese coronavirus. Three Maulvis from China, three from Kazakhstan and four others from Kyrgyzstan were hiding in the mosque. Before that, 12 foreign nationals were found hiding in a mosque in Patna, Bihar. The Muslim belonging to foreign countries had hidden in the Mosque with the help of a few local Muslims. These people were reportedly hiding, fearing medical examination and quarantine amidst the coronavirus outbreak. The incident had created a scare across the country.
India is battling an unprecedented crisis spawned by the coronavirus outbreak in the country. While it entered its 8th day of nationwide lockdown, reports are now emerging from across the country of a steady rise in the number of positive COVID-19 cases. Most of these positive cases either have a history of foreign travel or have contracted the disease by coming in direct contact with those who have recently returned from outside India.
However, another telltale fact about the spread of the virus has come to the fore. According to the reports, foreign nationals suspected of being contracted with the virus are now found from many mosques across the country. Recently, 10 foreign Muslims were discovered in a mosque of Newasa town of Ahmednagar district.
10 foreign Mullahs discovered in a Mosque of Newasa town in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra https://t.co/OBzCDYUtTT
A mosque in the city of Nevada found 10 people from four outside countries living in the mosque. Two trustees of the mosque have been charged under the Disaster Management Act, Maharashtra Police Act, Indian Disease Act, Corona Prohibition Rules and others. They have been accused of sheltering the foreign Muslims in the mosque.
Police constable Pratap Singh Bhagwan Dahifle had filed a complaint in this regard, stating that while on patrol in Newasa on March 30, police inspector Ranjit Dere learned from a secret reporter that people from outside the country were staying in the mosque in Newasa. When the mosque was raided, the police found there 10 foreign Muslims from African nations along with mosque trustees Jummakhan Nawabakhan Pathan and Salim Babulal Pathan.
The police claimed that the trustee members were already informed about the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic but they still violated the prohibition order of the collector, allowing foreign nations to stay in the mosque. They are charged under violations of the mobilization order as per section 37 (1) (3) of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951, Section 11 of the Corona COVID-19 law, 2020, and under Section 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemics Disease Act, 1897.
Besides, two people, one from Ivory Coast and one NRI from France had tested positive for COVID-19 in Ahmednagar on Sunday. The duo was a member of a Muslim Jamaat, involved in preaching and education, had come to India along with a group of 9 persons on January 4 via Mauritius. They had stayed at a local mosque in Ahmednagar and then went to Jamkhed. The Ahmednagar Police had raided the mosque in Jamkhed and found that 14 members had gathered to offer namaz. An offence was lodged again the three trustee members of the mosque under relevant sections and members were sent into quarantine. Tests for two members of the group, the man from Ivory Coast and NRI from France had returned positive for novel COVID-19.
Maharashtra is the state worst affected by coronavirus so far in India. With 230 cases in total and over a 100 in Mumbai alone, the state is pulling all resources to contain the pandemic.
Earlier yesterday, after the death of 6 COVID-19 patients in Telangana who had attended a function by Tablighi Jamaat, the law enforcement officials were sent into a tizzy when they discovered that about 1500 people from across the country and globe had attended the function. Till now a total number of 10 people have died and 300 who attended the Jamaat function have been hospitalised. The Jamaat had emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus and now cases of COVID-19 who attended the function are being reported from all over the country.
The function was also attended by foreign members of the Jamaat, who had come from countries like Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia and were staying in mosques in other states after having checked out from Nizamuddin headquarters. The agencies believe these foreigners could be potential vectors of coronavirus, carrying and transmitting diseases to different parts of the country.
A few days back, eleven foreign Islamic clerics (Maulvis) were nabbed from the Rargaon Mosque in the Tamar area of Ranchi amidst the threat of Chinese coronavirus. Three Maulvis from China, three from Kazakhstan and four others from Kyrgyzstan were hiding in the mosque. Before that, 12 foreign nationals were found hiding in a mosque in Patna, Bihar. The Muslim belonging to foreign countries had hidden in the Mosque with the help of a few local Muslims. These people were reportedly hiding, fearing medical examination and quarantine amidst the coronavirus outbreak. The incident had created a scare across the country.
The Home Ministry on Tuesday said that the foreign Islamic preachers who visited India on tourist visa but attended the Islamic religious conference organised by the “Tablighi Jamaat” are in violation of visa rules. The preachers were found staying at the Banglewali Masjid, the Mosque near the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, earlier this month. According to reports almost 800 such Indonesian Islamic preachers, who attended the event, may now be blacklisted for flouting the visa rules.
India and Indonesia have a liberal visa arrangement and allow tourist visa on arrival for the citizens. However, as per the policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by Government of India, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display or pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed.
“They came here on a tourist visa but were participating in religious conferences, this is a violation of visa rules. We are going to blacklist around 800 Indonesian preachers so that in future they are not able to enter the country,” said a government official.
As per policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by GoI, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display/ pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed. All foreigners who attended may be barred: Govt sources https://t.co/zWWi1wqWnf
Around 8,000 people from across the country attended a gathering earlier this month at the Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid, the headquarters of the “Tablighi Jamaat” in Nizamuddin area of south Delhi.
On March 30 (Monday) it was reported that as many as 200 people from the Nizamuddin Dargah and surrounding areas were taken to various hospitals in Delhi after they showed suspected coronavirus symptoms. As per reports, the area around the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Mosque near it has been cordoned off by Delhi police.
Earlier this month, several hundred people from across India and abroad had attended the Islamic religious conference by the “Tableeghi 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. The Mosque is the It is the global centre for the Tablighi network and the origin of the Tablighi Jamaat, as per Wikipedia.
The Mosque reportedly regularly hosts Islamic followers and preachers from all over India and from many nations in the world. From here, preachers are sent to Mosques all over India.
The event also saw visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan. On Thursday, a 65-year-old man had died of COVID-19 in Srinagar. He had also attended the same event. The man had reportedly first travelled to the Deoband seminary in UP before going back to Srinagar.
Many of the other attendees had also travelled to all over India to their respective home towns. After the event, people had reportedly left the premises in groups of 20-30 people in buses. While an Indonesian and 6 Saudi Arabian citizens were sent to their home countries, over 1200 people were still staying inside the Mosque, as per reports.
On Friday, 6 persons were tested positive for coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. All of them had attended the religious event in Delhi and had returned via Kolkata. Other confirmed cases who had attended the event at the Banglewali Mosque include a 52-year-old man from Guntur and a man from Tamil Nadu who also died of the disease.
On 19 March, 7 Indonesian nationals who had travelled from Delhi to Karimnagar, Telangana for an Islamic event had tested positive for coronavirus. They all had travelled in the same coach. “Around 50 per cent of Wuhan Coronavirus positive cases in Telangana are linked to the meetings organised by the preachers. Around 350 people from Telangana had also attended the conference in Delhi,” said a government official.
Six people from Telangana, who attended the conference between March 13 and 15, died of the disease yesterday (March 30), according to a statement from the chief minister’s office.
Six people from Telangana who attended a religious congregation at Markaz in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi from 13-15 March succumbed after they contracted #Coronavirus. Two died in Gandhi Hospital while one each died in Apollo Hospital, Global Hospital, Nizamabad and Gadwal
On Sunday, 4 members of the same family tested positive for the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu. The 4 were reportedly contacts of the two Thai nationals who had tested positive earlier. Both Thai nationals were a part of the religious event in Delhi. As per a report in The Week, Islamic preachers had fanned out from Delhi after the event and had travelled to many states, visiting Mosques and homes of Muslims. In Tamil Nadu alone, 819 people were listed as ‘suspected cases’ after they had attended the event in Delhi.
TN government has stated that over 1000 people form Tamil Nadu alone had attended the Islamic event in Nizamuddin, Delhi.
A medical camp has been set up in the area and samples are being tested. Drones have been deployed to maintain strict vigilance over movements. As per reports, over 2000 people in the area are under quarantine.
The sheer number of gatherers at the religious event among coronavirus suspected cases is a cause of worry because not only have they travelled across Indian before the lockdown kicked in, but also the larger possibility of contact transmission all over India.
The Markaz, Nizamuddin in Delhi, the global centre for the Tablighi Jamaat, is suspected to be the ground zero of hundreds of potential infections of the Wuhan Coronavirus. On Monday, the Delhi Government announced that it will request the Delhi Police to register an FIR against the Maulana of the Masjid for jeopardizing the safety and security of the nation in the wake of the deadly pandemic. Since then, numerous other developments have occurred regarding the Islamic organization.
As per reports, the religious conference occurred between the 1st and 15th of March. At least eight people who had attended the event have died of the disease. As many as 163 people who had attended the gathering at Markaz have been admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi after showing symptoms of the Chinese Coronavirus. Apart from numerous states of India, the religious gathering was also attended by Muslims from other countries. As the fallout of the gathering becomes imminent, states are now running helter-skelter to track the individuals who had attended the event.
The government of Tamil Nadu has announced that around 1,500 people attended the event at Markaz, Nizamuddin and 981 of them have already been tracked. They are currently being tested. The government of Telangana has identified 194 people and they have been put under quarantine. The list compiled by Jammu and Kashmir’s administration of those who had either attended the event or come in contact with those who had included hundreds of Kashmiris. It is estimated that the gathering was attended by around 2000 delegates. Over 250 foreigners had stayed at the facility’s six-floor dormitory. Adjoining the mosque is the Basti Nizamuddin, which has a population of over 25,000 people.
It is quite evident that there was remarkable irresponsibility on the part of the administration of the Tableeghi Jamaat that has led to this utter catastrophe. However, attempts are underway to give them a free pass and instead harp on about some letters that the authorities had written to the Police a week ago. Gaurav Pandhi, the national coordinator of the Congress party’s social media operations, claimed that those at Markaz, Nizamuddin were stuck due to the lockdown and had been in constant touch with the authorities thereafter. According to him, the Government is “Evil” to take action against them.
Those who attended the congregation at Nizamuddin were stuck due to the lockdown & thereafter were in constant touch with the Admin/Govt and also wrote to the ACP Seeking Permission To Let Them Go, to avoid having so many people at same place.
Letters written by the Tableeghi Jamaat, dated 28th of March and 25th, are also going around which supposedly shows the efforts made by the authorities of the Islamic organization to cooperate with the Police. These letters are now being used to absolve them of all sins and instead, shift the blame of the catastrophe on others.
These letters written by officials of Tableeghi Jamaat say that all members of the jamaat had arrived at the markaz before the lockdown was announced. And that all details were shared with SHO on March 24. Requests were also made to help “de-congest” the area pic.twitter.com/sSs95IKLwg
There is only one problem with the entire justification put forward in Tableeghi Jamaat’s defense. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had issued an order as early as the 16th of March announcing a complete ban on social, religious and political gatherings of more than 50 people in the national capital. The actions of the Jamaat are in clear violation of the AAP supremo’s order. As per their own admission, communication was established with the authorities on the 24th of March, more than a week after Kejriwal’s orders banning gathering of more than fifty. And they had several times more than that number housed in the premises of Markaz, Nizamuddin.
One Ashraf, who lives near Markaz, Nizamuddin, said that people had been entering the Masjid as late as the 22nd of March, in clear violation of Arvind Kejriwal’s orders. It was only as late as the 21st of March that people who had come to the congregation had started going back, according to him. It was claimed that help was sought to vacate the premises but “no help came our way” but in hindsight, it was for the best of everyone that they continued to stay there instead of traveling elsewhere and taking the virus along with them in other parts of the country.
From 21/3 people who had come for congregation had started going back, yes some foreigners were there but most had left. We tried sending people who were here because we couldn’t maintain social distancing, no help came our way: Ashraf, who lives near Markaz. #Nizamuddinpic.twitter.com/mZpAQ0fVw5
By the admission of the authorities of Markaz, Nizamuddin itself, there were at least 2500 people in the Masjid until the 23rd of March. That is fifty times more than the limit of fifty imposed on gatherings by Arvind Kejriwal a week earlier. On the 23rd, 1500 of them vacated the premises and at least some of them took the virus elsewhere in the country.
…thus leaving around 1000 visitors of different states & nationalities in Markaz. It was also informed that Ld. SDM concerned had been requested to issue vehicle passes so that remaining people could be sent back to their native places outside of Delhi: Markaz, Delhi (2/3)
The Home Ministry has now announced that foreigners who attended the Tableeghi Jamaat event were in violation of rules for Indian Visa. As per policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by the Government of India, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display/pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed. The foreigners may be barred from entering the country in the future.
As per policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by GoI, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display/ pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed. All foreigners who attended may be barred: Govt sources https://t.co/zWWi1wqWnf
Thus, it’s quite clear that the Tableeghi Jamaat and authorities at the Markaz, Nizamuddin flouted all rules and regulations and jeopardized the safety and security of the country in the process. However, some individuals and ‘journalists’ are more concerned about the ‘rightwing’ linking the Chinese Coronavirus to religion. According to Rajdeep Sardesai, it is ‘inhuman’ and he begged everyone to ‘once keep religion out of this’.
I was waiting for RW to link corona to religion. The tragic deaths of people after a Tableegi Jamaat congregation has provided that chance. To link corona to religion when thousands across the world ACROSS religions are dying is INHUMAN. Let’s for once keep religion out of this.
As noble as Rajdeep Sardesai’s intentions may seem, it is an undeniable reality that the Tableeghi Jamaat and members of the Muslim community have been constantly undermining the threat posed by the Wuhan Coronavirus and engaging in behaviour that is immensely irresponsible, to put it mildly. For instance, the protesters at Shaheen Bagh believed that it was a conspiracy to stop the protests. Muslims on TikTok have been making videos that suggest that death is preferable to abandoning Islamic practices. They have also been gathering in large numbers in public places on Fridays for their weekly prayers. All of this puts the health of everyone at risk.
Salman Nizami, a Congress leader from Kashmir, has chosen to blame the NDA government at the center for the mess created by the Tableeghi Jamaat. According to him, the central government is trying to turn it into a ‘Hindu-Muslim issue’ by blaming ‘poor Muslims’ who had ‘no choice’ but to gather in large numbers for ‘food and shelter’. He also said, “FIR should be lodged against Delhi CM Kejriwal for his carelessness, be it Nizamudin or other places where people were on roads. 25+ labourers have died. There were no arrangements, people had to take shelter in mosque. Request for evacuation was ignored. This CM is incompetent!”
People who took shelter at Nizamuddin mosque are those poor helpless Muslims who were not taken home by Air India Plane. Govt is trying to make Hindu-Muslim issue by blaming the poor Muslims who were left with no choice but to gather in groups for food & shelter in lockdown!
The Tableeghi Jamaat, meanwhile, has spread the virus not only in India but across the world. An event in Malaysia spread the pandemic to several countries. Another in Pakistan spread the virus across the country and elsewhere around the world. Meanwhile, authorities have either failed to stop the event or showed no inclinations to stop them. A Policeman in Pakistan was stabbed by a Tableeghi Jamaat member while trying to escape quarantine.
Ingrained religious bigotry has aided the spread of the virus and it is undeniable. In Iran, for instance, a country crippled by the Wuhan Coronavirus, the religious authorities failed to curb its spread and people were going around licking and kissing the Islamic shrines. Even so, certain individuals appear more concerned with giving these bigots a free pass in the name of secularism instead of tackling the menace head-on.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Kumar Jain informed on Tuesday that as many as 24 people who had attended the religious congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat at Banglewali Masjid in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area have tested positive for the deadly Wuhan coronavirus as of now. As per reports, the foreigners who were present at the Tablighi Jamaat were in violation of visa rules.
As per policy guidelines of Indian Visa issued by government of India, preaching religious ideologies, making speeches in religious places, distribution of audio-visual display/pamphlets pertaining to religious ideologies is not allowed. All foreigners who attended may be barred, government sources told news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, Delhi Minister has also informed that while the Delhi government is not clear on the total number of participants, the number of people who might have taken part in the religious meeting held in Nizamuddin could be between 1500 and 1700. Of these, 1033 people had been evacuated while 334 ha been sent to hospitals. Around 700 people had been kept under quarantine in a government-run facility.
The Delhi Health Minister conceded that the organisers of the Islamic congregation in Nizamuddin had committed a “grave crime”, in light of the enforcement of Disaster Act & Contagious Diseases Act that prohibits the assembly of more than 5 people. He further added that Delhi government has ordered an FIR in this regard.
On Tuesday morning, South Municipal Corporation of Delhi was called to sanitise the area and people were being shifted to hospitals after noting down details. Drones are also being used to monitor activities in Nizamuddin area.
On Monday, 6 people from Telangana who attended a religious gathering at Markaz in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area between March 13 and March 15 had reportedly died of Coronavirus infection. This has taken the death toll in the state from 2 to 8 in just 48 hours.
Around 200 people from the Nizamuddin Dargah and surrounding areas were taken to various hospitals in Delhi on Monday after they showed suspected coronavirus symptoms. As per reports, the area around the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Mosque near it has been cordoned off by Delhi police. Large-scale sanitisation operation is currently underway.
Earlier this 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.
The Mosque reportedly regularly hosts Islamic followers and preachers from all over India and from many nations in the world. The event also saw visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan. On Friday, 6 persons were tested positive for coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Yesterday the Banglewali Masjid in South Delhi Nizamuddin Dargah area was sealed off, hundreds of people, showing symptoms of coronavirus infections were shifted to various hospitals in Delhi while over 2000 were put under Quarantine.
As India and the entire world grapples with the coronavirus outbreak, one Islamic organisation, the Tablighi Jamat, has not only been holding Islamic congregations of their preachers and followers, but also allowing hundreds, even thousands of Islamic believers to gather, and then to travel around the world. What is interesting is, the Tablighi Jamat held its annual Iztema amidst the coronavirus outbreak in many places. Not just in Delhi, but also in Lahore, Malaysia and many other places.
In India, 10 coronavirus deaths are now traced to Tablighi Jamat in Delhi. Since yesterday, over 285 people showing coronavirus symptoms have been admitted in Lok Nayak Hospital alone. Several dozen active cases around the nations have now been traced back to the same organisation.
The Banglewali Masjid in Delhi is Tablighi’s global headquarters. Thousands of people had gathered here in the second week of March when coronavirus fears, and the guidelines banning mass gatherings were already there. Yesterday, Tamil Nadu government told that over 1000 people had travelled to Delhi and had come back, possibly with many coronavirus positive cases, to their state. 819 people have been listed. Mant patient currently traced had travel or contact history to the Tablighi Jamat event, including several foreign nationals, Tablighi preachers from other countries.
Same is the case with Andaman and Nicobar Island, where 6 Jamat returnees had tested positive on Friday. A man from Guntur who had travelled by train, the 65-year-old man who died in Srinagar last week and many, many more. In Karimnagar, 7 Indonesians from Tabligh were found to be COVID-19 positive.
What is most alarming that the Mosque, right in the heart of India’s capital, was ‘allowed’ to hold such a large congregation in Mid-march where foreign nationals had gathered in large numbers, ironically when the nation has already been putting foreign returned Indians under a 14-day quarantine since February.
ANI’s Editor in Chief Smita Prakash has discussed how the Tablighi Jamat’s congregation was probably an open flouting of all the orders and guidelines issued by the Delhi and central government in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
250 foreigners attended this Tablighi conference. Let that sink in 250 'scholars' got visas for a conference in Delhi held by a radical organisation weeks after the city had been rocked by Hindu-Muslim riots. Who gave all these foreigners visas to come here for 'conference'
Tablighi Jamat preachers and followers attended the Iztema in Delhi, then took trains and buses to travel all over India. Some returned to their home towns. While many foreign nationals went to visit other Mosques, staying there, possibly passing on the disease to many others. In TN, the two Thai nationals who had attended the Jamat have both been found COVID-19 positive. 4 members of the same family who had come in contact with them are positive too. The Srinagar man, along with many students and preachers, had stopped at UP’s Deoband, another large Islamic establishment, housing hundreds of clerics and scholars.
What is unfolding in Nizamuddin now, has already happened in Malaysia. On 15 March, Malaysia reported over 190 positive cases of COVID-19. Most were from the Iztema of Tabligh Jamat that had seen over 16,000 preachers and followers from several countries. The numbers only grew, because, like in Delhi, congregation and then travelling, made the case worse.
The Tabligh group had held a mass gathering at Masjid Jamek Sri Petaling on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur involving thousands of people leading to the spread of the deadly virus. Out of the 50 cases in Brunei at that time, 45 were Tabligh attendees.
Tablighi’s preachers spread the message of Islam. Unfortunately, as the coronavirus continued its ravaging path across nations, claiming lives and infecting more and more humans with every transmission, the (un)timely annual Iztemas of the Tablighi Jamat became the perfect vessels for the virus to spread its menace around the world.
In Pakistan, despite concerns by many national and international institutions, the Tablighi Jamat Iztema in Lahore saw a massive footfall of over 250,000 people. While a majority of attendees were Pakistani, many were foreign nationals too. The Iztema occurred between 11 and 15 March. The results were as expected. Several days later, Gaza reported the first two positive cases, both from Tablighi Jamat, freshly returned from Lahore. Now, the single event in Lahore is believed to be behind a majority of cases in Pakistan.
Article on Haaretz on how the Lahore Tablighi event became the super coronavirus spreader
There are some in India who think that the Tablighi Jamat becoming the super spreader in Asia does not have to do anything with religion.
Rajdeep Sardesai on Twitter
On the contrary, religious fundamentalism IS the primary reason that the Tablighi Jamat ignored global pandemic concerns, defied guidelines against mass-gatherings and housed thousands of people of varied nationalities to gather under single roofs. They believed that the coronavirus could not touch them.
The provincial government in Pakistan’s Punjab had called for the cancellation of the event. They dismissed coronavirus concerns, equating it with any other natural calamity. “We just focus on action, on deeds, and Allah protects,” said a Tablighi leader.
Yesterday, a Tablighi Jamat member held in quarantine in Pakistan’s Punjab made a bid to escape. He had stabbed and killed a Pakistani police officer.
SHO Ashraf Malik in Layyah stabbed & injured by a Tablighi Jamaat member who was trying to escape quarantine. 27 Tablighi Jamaat members out of 35 screened at their markaz in Raiwind have tested positive for coronavirus. Islam or not, Tablighis are certainly spreading the virus pic.twitter.com/dcFmynBaJd
After gathering in Pakistan, the Tablighi members had spread as far as Gaza, Kyrgyzstan and many other nations. Long after gatherings were banned, even on 24 March, Tablighi Jamat was reportedly holding over 1000 people inside its Mosque in Nizamuddin.
The Tablighi Jamat is so far linked to 10 coronavirus deaths in India, and dozens of positive cases. Looking at the contact transmission factor, the tendency to avoid quarantine and lack of voluntary declaration to authorities, and the fact that they had travelled from Delhi to all parts of India accompanied by foreign nationals, it can now be said that we are staring at a potential catastrophe.
Social media is flooded with videos and posts of Muslims who openly declare that they do not believe the coronavirus can do them any harm and ‘Allah will protect them’. We have seen reports on how Mosques and Maulvis in India are reluctant to close Namaz services, many even openly declaring that they will not prevent believers from coming to pray. The Tablighi Jamat is a major Muslim organisation in the world, commanding influence over millions of believers. Such an organisation actively defying orders against mass-gatherings and ignoring the threats of a pandemic only makes it worse for the average Muslims to protect their families against the virus.
The Holy Kaaba in Mecca and the Iranian authorities have already announced that they are shutting down congregational prayers in the wake of the outbreak but organisations like Tablighi Jamaat are not only defying orders but have been actively spreading the virus around the world under the garb of faith.
In the age of internet and telecommunication, lack of information can not be an excuse. The way the Tablighi Jamat has defied guidelines, even orders, and has helped spread coronavirus in Asia, will probably be a case study in the future on how religious fundamentalism helped a virus to defeat humanity.
On Sunday, a member of the Tablighi Jamaat stabbed a police officer SHO Ashraf Malik Maakhi, with a knife after he reportedly tried to escape a quarantine facility. The officer was then shifted to the DHQ Hospital in Layyah and is said to be in a stable condition. The assailant was apprehended by the cops from Swabi district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan.
SHO Ashraf Malik in Layyah stabbed & injured by a Tablighi Jamaat member who was trying to escape quarantine. 27 Tablighi Jamaat members out of 35 screened at their markaz in Raiwind have tested positive for coronavirus. Islam or not, Tablighis are certainly spreading the virus pic.twitter.com/dcFmynBaJd
As per reports, 27 out of 35 members of the Tablighi Jamaat tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus in Raiwind in Lahore in the Punjab region of Pakistan. The Islamic outfit had organised a religious congregation for 1200 people. The event was later called off thus making it difficult for the members to reach home, amidst the government-sanctioned lockdown. The Markaz was sealed and turned into a quarantine facility, housing 25 people.
Earlier in March, the Tablighi Jamaat organised a religious congregation of 1.5 lakh people on the outskirts of Lahore. The mass gathering resulted in transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants, in complete breach of social distancing, ate and slept in close quarters.
Two Palestinian citizens who attended the meeting tested positive for Coronavirus, thus becoming the first case of the outbreak in the Gaza Strip which is one of the most densely populated areas with poverty levels as high as 50%. The patients were shifted to an isolation ward at a hospital in the city of Rafah. Around 1,270 people were quarantined after they entered Gaza from Israel and Egypt. This had resulted in a state of panic in the region with limited testing capabilities.
Closer home in India, around 200 people from the Nizamuddin Dargah and surrounding areas were taken to various hospitals in Delhi on Monday after they showed suspected coronavirus symptoms. As per reports, the area around the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Mosque near it has been cordoned off by Delhi police. As of now, at least 24 people have been tested positive from those evacuated from Nizamuddin. The number is expected to go significantly higher.
On Monday, 6 people from Telangana who attended a religious gathering at Markaz in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area between March 13 and March 15 had reportedly died of Coronavirus infection. This has taken the death toll in the state from 2 to 8 in just 48 hours.
According to a statement issued Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has urged other participants of the congregation at Tablighi Jamaat to come forward and get themselves tested. The state government has said that the cost of the tests will be borne by the government.
Special teams headed by district collectors have identified people who may have been exposed to the 6 victims of Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. They have now been shifted to hospitals for testing and treatment. The Telangana Government has also appealed to people who were a part of the religious gathering to inform the authorities as early as possible.
Around 200 people from the Nizamuddin Dargah and surrounding areas were taken to various hospitals in Delhi on Monday after they showed suspected coronavirus symptoms. As per reports, the area around the Nizamuddin Dargah and the Mosque near it has been cordoned off by Delhi police. Large-scale sanitisation operation is currently underway.
Earlier this 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.
The Mosque reportedly regularly hosts Islamic followers and preachers from all over India and from many nations in the world. The event also saw visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan. On Friday, 6 persons were tested positive for coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s 38-year-old nephew Abdullah passed away in Mumbai after complaining of breathlessness. As per Bhaskar report, Abdullah lived in Khan Compound in Indore. He was admitted in Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai on Sunday after he complained of breathlessness. Owing to difficulty in breathing, he was put on ventilator on Sunday night. As per the report, his coronavirus tests are awaited.
The Dabanng 3 actor took to social media to mourn the death of his nephew. As per India Today report, Abdullah suffered from diabetes and was shifted to Mumbai after he felt uneasy two days back. However, India Today report citing sources in the family states that Abdullah died of heart-related ailment and not the Wuhan Coronavirus.
However, a Navbharat Times report suggests that Abdullah was admitted in Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambadni Hospital and died of lung cancer. Abdullah is the son of Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan’s sister. Nai Duniya, citing Salim Khan’s brother states that Abdullah did not die of coronavirus and that the post-mortem reports will reveal the truth.
