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| Tablighis’ wrong: Nation pays the price | |
K B Jandial
Amidst pandemic Coronavirus scare, Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) activists have become one single factor responsible for spiking the overall number of COVID-19 cases in India which under the leadership of PM Modi is religiously following a nationwide lockdown to prevent its community spread. The irresponsible, albeit, criminal act of the TJ has not only taken lives of many of its Muslim followers but also spiked coronavirus numbers in at least 17 states & UTs including J&K & Ladakh, doubling the number at the rate of 4.2 days than 7.2 days if it had not happened.
People across India are outraged and call the Tablighis as Coronavirus “distributor” and China as “producer”. Many don’t wish to endorse such a sweeping observations but this does reflect the anger of the public who are self-quarantined. They are justified in looking at Tablighis’ brazen defiance to the rules of lockdown as an attempt to negate the herculean efforts of Modi Govt and local administration in preventing its spread. People’s anger shoots up on listening on TV channels the audio address of their Ameer Maulana Saad Kandhlawi
who led the controversial religious congregation in Nizamuddin West.
Reportedly on March 18, 2020, Maulana Saad was heard advising people (Muslims) not to leave mosques amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus, saying that no disease was going to harm them. “Do not leave mosques even if trusted doctors ask you to. There was no better place to die than in a mosque”. Bringing religion in to the nation’s fight against the deadly disease was an affront to national effort to save the people from the virus. However, when concerned and condemned by all including many Muslim cleric and scholars, Maulana Saad retracted and issued another audio tape in which he asked his disciples to follow Govt instructions.
The Markaz organized an ijtma from March 1-15 and in which at least 2,000 people, including foreigners participated. On Sunday night (March 22), many participants had started showing COVID-19 symptoms. The Police advised them to vacate multi-storey Headquarters and follow precautions including social distancing as per Govt advisory but they didn’t do it. When the event became the hot news, all agencies activated their themselves. In the meanwhile, many quietly left the Markaz and moved to different parts of the country, unmindful of the virus which some of them were carrying and spreading through their contacts. The Home Ministry spokesperson confirmed that the Govt was able to track down 22,000 Tablighis and their contacts. All of them have been put on quarantine or surveillance. The authorities attributed to Tablighis 30% of the increased number of cases in the country in two to three days. What a shame to an organisation which claimed to work for religious reforms and spread of Islamic faith in its original form, to indulge in willful defiance of the good counsel of the administration, Health experts and PM &CMs and pushed their own followers and their contacts to possible death. The controversial Maulana Saad has converted the Tablighis in to mobile time bombs and Nizamuddin headquarters as India’s biggest hot-spot of COVID.
While Tablighi Jamaat is perhaps a fresh name in public domain but it is nearly a hundred year old orthodox Islamic organisation with branches spreading over 80 countries. It shots in to spotlight after this year’s annual Ijtma attended by more than 300 foreigners who are believed to be the actual carriers of the coronavirus. Set up by Maulana Saad’s great grandfather and an Islamic scholar, Maulana Mohd Ilyas Kandhlawi in 1926 as an offshoot of Deoband movement to “revive the true Islam” as perceived by the Prophet Mohammad. Saad’s family comes from Kandhla, near Shamli in UP.
The famous Islamic university, Darul Uloom Deoband,seat of Sunni Deoband movement, is also not pulling on with Maulana Saad, opposing his style of functioning including his teachings for the past three years. It even issued a fatwa against Maulana Saad for his controversial interpretation of verses of holy Quran.
Due to the orthodox nature of Tablighi Jamaat, they have been criticised for being retrogressive. The women in the movement observe complete hijab for which the Tablighi Jamaat is accused of keeping women "strictly subservient and second string". The TJ has also been criticised within Islamic circles and the major opposition comes from Barelvi movement.
Some speak about its alleged connection with terrorism. In France, it is said, "80% percent of the Islamist extremists have come from Tablighi ranks. Their members were involved in many terrorist attacks including 9/11 in USA, bombardment of Tora Bora in Afghanistan, plotting to blow up US Embassy in Paris, foiled bombing plot in Barcelona, Spain, 7/7 London bombing etc.
The irresponsible action of TJ (including indecent behavior of coming nude before nurses) has not only invited criticism for spreading COVID in India alone but also in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia & Philippines this year. In India too, the Tablighis coming from Indonesia are reported to be carrier. It is also beyond understanding that with the claim of such an alert and effective bandobast against COVID at airports, how these foreigner Tablighis escaped from Delhi’s International Airport unnoticed and continued to roam around freely, spreading this virus.
Unlike Mumbai Police which withdrew permission on 6th March for similar ijtma at Vasai, Delhi Police woke up after the event & has now slapped cases against Tablighi Chief under Epidemic Disease Act and IPC. Maulana didn’t budge on Delhi police requests to disperse the participants and it was only when NSA, Ajit Doval intervened through Maulana Mahmood Madani, Secretary General of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that they agreed to be evacuated and subject them to test for COVID-19. When all efforts failed, Doval sought help from Maulana Madani who in turn contacted an officer bearer of TJ and persuaded him to advise others to vacate the headquarters. Then Ajit Doval went there around 2 am in the intervening night of March 27-28 along with a fleet of buses and finally evacuated Tablighis and convined them for test for COVID. Subsequent dispersal of followers to their home towns spread across the country added more fuel to the fire in spreading the virus.
Omar Abdullah and some other leaders have unnecessarily taken the criticism of Tablighis’ irresponsible and criminal acts as attack on Muslims in India and sharply reacted through tweeter. Omar tweeted, “Now the #Tablighi Jamaat will become a convenient excuse for some to vilify Muslims everywhere as if we created and spread # Covid around the world”. Who was vilifying Muslims? Just a political statement? Why anybody taking criticism of Tablighis, who have compromised safety of thousands of people, as criticism of Muslims? Foreign media using such hasty reactions started launching a vilification campaign against India treating it as Islamophobic rhetoric which actually doesn’t existence.
The most sensible reaction and appeal came from Maulana Madani. Regretting that what Doval did on 28th March should have been done on 18th March itself Maulana has rightly advised Tablighis and all other Muslims brethren to strictly follow social distancing, and suspend prayers in mosques saying in very candid words that anyone who does otherwise in violation of these instructions would be doing haram ka kaam. He also strongly decried as nonsense a narrative sought to be created that Tablighis had deliberately done. Whatever has happened was bad and wrong and should not have happened but right now is the need to bring everybody under the surveillance, quarantine and ensure social distancing. Remember, lakhs of mosques that exist in India are shut down and Muslims too observing prescribed health advisory Tablighis’ wrong doing notwithstanding. The matter should end there even though thousands of people are made to suffer because of their foolishness bordering criminal act.Let there be no politics on it and law would be allowed to take its own course.
(Author is a retired IAS officer) feedback: [email protected]
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