Checkmating the Tablighi Jamaat
Tablighi Jamaat members in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz
India right now is badly caught in
a shadow of coronavirus. This
shadow is not notional, but real
as the country is undergoing the
national lockdown, with looming
economic distress across various
sectors and related human sufferings.
In most industrial areas, factories are
left with no choice but to let go their
workers, mostly migrants, who are still
nursing their own wounds of woes and
deprivations.
While the Modi government has
followed its own disaster rules strictly,
what it has lacked is flexibility in
approach and responses to the
unprecedented range and dimension of
the greatest human tragedy. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, during his interaction with Chief Ministers talked
about the "areas of focus" in the country's war against coronovirus. He also
rightly suggested to the Chief Ministers to "formulate a common exit strategy to
ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends" on
April 14.
I, however, honestly feel that the Prime Minister himself should have taken
the initiative to work out a coordinated agenda and strategies keeping in view the
farmers' sufferings, the uprooting of workers, the people below the poverty line
and the have-nots in general. Equally vital exercise in this area is the revival of
the economy. The economy has further slowed down. Even the demand for work
by households under the MGNREGA programme surged to a nine-year high in
2019-20. This calls for revamping of the national job guarantee scheme which
was launched in 2006 from 200 districts. These are the areas of real challenge for
the Prime Minister.
As it is, the official communications network is widespread and strong. What
matters is the quality of communication and information to the people in
different segments.
The Prime Minister
ought to have taken
the initiative to work
out an agenda and
develop coordinated
strategies keeping in
view the farmers'
sufferings, the
uprooting of workers,
the people below the
poverty line and the
have-nots in
general. The country
needs the revival of its
economy too .
What is needed is not a knee-jerk reaction but large-heartedness like those
factory owners who decided not to leave their workers in the lurch but to keep
them while taking a more long-term business view.
For instance, Coimbatore-based KPR Mill has 17,500 workers on its premises.
This is positive news in an otherwise grim situation. Most of the states are
suffering because of non-availability of medical supplies like personal protective
equipment (PPEs), masks, sanitisers, ventilators, trained staff, risky slum areas,
poor infrastructure and financial grants. These may look like routine matters but
in a country like ours, the overall system is oriented towards the Prime Minister.
Things move faster when the PM takes interest and intervenes in public
interest areas. My emphasis, therefore, is on Prime Minister Modi playing a proactive
role in Covid-19-related matters.
Maulana Saad Kandhalvi
I have talked about caronavirus-related areas of focus, but one issue which is
bothering me as well as millions of Indians is how the Tablighi Jamaat event of
Nizamuddin Markaz in New Delhi turned into a caronavirus hotspot. The person to blame for this serious
setback is Maulana Saad Kandhalvi.
The 56-year-old Chief of the
Tablighi Jamaat is now faced with an
FIR registered against him on charges
of ignoring the government directions
prohibiting public gatherings and for
maintaining social distance to contain
the spread of Covid-19 under the
Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 and
relevant sections of the Indian Penal
Code (IPC).
Maulana Saad apart, Zeeshan
Mufti Shehzad, M Saifi, Younus,
Mohd. Salman and Mohammed
Ashraf have also been named in the
FIR. Saad has gone underground since
then.
It is said that the Tablighi Jamaat
thrives on the "culture of secrecy".
This is how National Security Advisor
Ajit Doval had told a media
organization as far bak as September
2013.
It is no secret that over
2000 people, including
foreigners and Indians
from across the country,
participated in the
Tablighi Jamaat
gathering in Delhi's
Nizamuddin. It is
reported that over 440
people showed
symptoms of Covid-19
after attending the
congregation at
Nizamuddin. This is a
highly serious matter.
The country is paying a
heavy price for this .
In view of the assessment by Ajit
Doval, my point is: how come the
authorities ignored its activities? They
ought to have acted firmly and
decisively against the Tablighi Jamaat
and not allowed it to hold its
gathering at Nizamuddin.
It is no secret that over 2000
people, including foreigners and
Indians from across the country,
participated in the Tablighi Jamaat
gathering in Delhi's Nizamuddin.
It is
reported that over 440 people showed
symptoms of Covid-19 after attending
the congregation at Nizamuddin. This
is a highly serious matter since the
country is paying a heavy price as the
rise of over 30 per cent positive cases
so far is linked to the Tablighi Jamaat
gathering in mid-March.
Ajit Doval
My question is: who is to blame for
allowing this gathering? To know the
truth I suggest that the country must
go in for an independent inquiry.
Only an impartial probe can help us
know the exact role played by the
Jamaat as well as the authorities. On
the face of varied happenings, I
believe that the role of the Delhi
government authorities, the police,
intelligence agencies and related areas
needs to be examined and guilty persons punished accordingly.
The inquiry agencies should also
critically examine Maulana Saad's
audio-tape which was played for the
gathering a number of times. Therein
he has reportedly said: "Do not pay
heed if they (police) ask us to lock
down mosques".
"There is no better place to die
than a mosque".
"Allah is punishing us for
abandoning mosques."
"Won't pay heed if even doctors
advise us not to pray in mosques."
The Great Mosque in Mecca
was closed for a short period.
The Maulana's message is clear and
candid as he says that coronavirus "is
an expression of Allah's wrath
because of the sins of us human
beings."
It may be restated that even Saudi
Arabia suspended prayers at Mecca
and Medina on March 20. Similar
restrictions were later imposed in the
rest of the Arab world and some other
Muslim countries. While India too
shut temples, churches, gurdwaras
and most mosques, why was the
Tablighi outfit treated lightly? The nation has the right to know full facts
about the Tablighi Jamaat activities in
Delhi and the rest of India. We must
not allow the Tablighi Jamaat to
become a fertile ground for
objectionable preaching in the name
of Islam and a breeding ground for
radical Islamic activities.