Why vicious compaign against Indian Muslims? 

By Abdul hafiz Lakhani.    Ahmedabad

On 16th April, The actor-politician and son of former Karnataka Chief Minister, married Revathi, the grand-niece of Congress leader M. Krishnappa at a farm house in Bidadi With over a hundred guests in participation for the wedding of actor-politician Nikhil Kumaraswamy, son of former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, social distancing seems to have been given a go by. The photographs released by the family of the wedding that took place near Bidadi suggests that social distancing had not been maintained as promised earlier.

Why every Muslim is blamed?

When a member of the Nihang sect slashes off a policeman’s hand, not every Sikh is held responsible. When some gau rakshaks lynch and murder, not every Hindu is blamed. Why then should every Muslim be cast as an infection-spreading Tablighi? Politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi have repeatedly called for Muslims not to congregate. Conversely, a Karnataka BJP MLA held a birthday bash, Mumbai VIPs travelled in a convoy to a picnic, and this week thousands violated lockdown rules to celebrate a chariot festival in a Karnataka temple. The issue therefore is not religion, it is the mindless civic irresponsibility of all Indians, not just Tablighis.

As this  report is being written, there is a news report that yogi government has sent a out 300 hundred buses to take back students from Kota,Rajasthan. Where is social distance in this particular case.

Now why not allow poor migrants to go back to home towns in Public transport and why so much Hue and Cry over TJ .

India reported its first case of Covid in Kerala on January 30, 2020. It was also the day when WHO, for the sixth time in history, declared a “public health emergency of international concern.” India declared Covid-19, a ‘Notified Disaster’ on March 13.

However it was only on March 19 that our Prime Minister wakes up to the reality and appeal to the nation for observing a day-long voluntary lock down on March 22. The country really became serious about Covid problem, when Prime Minister on March 24, announced for total lockdown of the country till April 14, First lockdown. Now it has extended to 3rd May.

The humankind is engulfed by Corona virus. People are dying. Many are struggling between life and death … While death is one form of tragedy, the hell of life without livelihood is even more tragic.

Corona is spreading irrespective of class, caste, gender, region, religion, nation and language. It poses all kinds of challenges to people and governments. The responsibility to protect people from this major threat rests primarily on governments. Governments are alert about it, evaluating regularly the medical, police, media, social, technical and human resources available and attempting to deploy them effectively. Social distancing, lockdown, quarantine, testing and treatment, are being implemented.

It is in this context that the central government announced the lockdown. Even as they implement the lockdown, the state governments too are evolving their own strategies to combat the virus. When our Prime Minister called for Janata Curfew, clapping and lighting of lamps, crores of people in our country, rising above caste, and religion, participated.

At the same time, we also need to recognise the realities. The way the lockdown was invoked by the government has thrown lives of crores of our people into disarray. If the decision was implemented with adequate precautions, giving time for people to prepare to leave for their places, if some time was given to them to reach their homes, if arrangements were made to facilitate this, it would have helped the poor cope. Crores of the abjectly poor, unorganised labour with infants, who throng our cities to eke out a living from far-flung places were suddenly rendered homeless. Left with no other option, they are walking thousands of kilometres to their homes, braving harsh weather, hunger and thirst. Children and the elderly are dying of hunger. On the other hand, we are hearing that domestic violence has gone up and women and children are being put to untold miseries. Many families dependent on daily wages and daily sales are unable to meet their basic needs. Facing up to the challenges of these difficulties and losses, the people, particularly the poor are willingly abiding by the orders and rules of the government in the eager hope of overcoming the threat of Corona pandemic. They are counting their days, standing by each other with courage and helping each other out with love, rising above caste, community and religion.

Most of Media plays Anti – Muslim bigotry

Some elements are bent on polluting this environment of good-will in times of adversity. They have taken the religious conference held at Nizamuddin Tabligh in New Delhi as an excuse to ramp up an intense campaign of poisonous hatred against the entire Muslim community. This campaign is being run to establish that Tabligh Jamaat and the entire Muslim community are solely responsible for the spread of the virus in India. “Corona Jihad”, “Corona terrorism”, “Islamic revivalism” are some of the phrases in currency. Media is reverberating with stories of renewed threat of Islam to India. Media is spreading strange stories, inserting visuals unconnected to the present context. This propaganda is aimed at terrorising ordinary folks into thinking that Muslims have resorted to some major subversion. It appears that electronic media, social media, have taken an anti-Muslim stand and are forcefully orchestrating their agenda. They are sowing doubts in the minds of the people that Corona virus can infect by the mere touch of Muslims. The social distancing that is being followed for preventing Corona is taking the shape of social boycott when it comes to Muslim community. This situation is a body blow to the spirit of the nation-wide united fight against the virus. It is being reported that doctors are fearing to provide care to the Muslim patients. In many places Muslims are being asked not to report to work. All over the country, Muslims are being reduced to a criminalised, insecure existence. Apart from all other common troubles, the Muslim communities are experiencing terrible psychological violence. These acts that divide the social fabric vertically, that promote mutual distrust and hatred are acts of subversion, divisive, and against the rule of law. Everyone understands that no single caste, religion or class is responsible for the spread of the Corona virus. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no one who does not know that this is not any single individual’s problem, nor that of a single nation. It is a major threat being faced by the entire humankind and Corona is a pandemic.

Tableeg jamat’s blunder

There may be many other reasons for the spread of Corona in our country and this is the time to assume collective responsibility. Though we have several limitations and failures in facing this threat, this is the time for us to set them aside and depend on available human resources and common values. This is the time to block the poisonous propaganda that the only reason for the spread of the virus in the country are the activities of the Tablighi Jamaat and the Muslims. Some people are attempting to stoke communal hatred by intentionally, in a planned way, running this inhuman propaganda on social media to misrepresent Muslims community. We condemn these cruel activities in one voice. We demand that the Central and State governments take severe and immediate action against those responsible for such activities. We request all the media entities to expose the conspiracy to once again scapegoat the Muslim community and to work towards building communal harmony.

Similarly, those who have participated in the Markaz conference, and other Muslims who have had interaction with them must voluntarily go to the authorities, get Covid tests done, follow doctors’ advice, and cooperate with the governments

Corona virus is a pandemic. This is a global threat being faced by the entire humankind. Let us face this pandemic unitedly together, rising above caste and religious differences!

Meanwhile, The Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that out of 14,378 positive cases of Coronavirus in the country, 4,291 (29.84%) are linked to Tablighi Jamaat’s mid-March congregation held at Nizamuddin area in Delhi. However, the event remains the single largest source for the COVID-19 cases in the country.

Of the total cases, 12289 are active cases, 2014 have recovered and discharged while 488 have died.

Most of the cases related to Nizamuddin Markaz were reported from Delhi, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.

Tablighi Jamaat had held a big congregation at its headquarters, known as Nizamuddin Markaz, between 13-15 March even though the Delhi state had banned assembly of more than 50 people on March 13. Several thousand people were in the Markaz when the nationwide lockdown was imposed on March 24 in order to contain Coronavirus. The administrators of the Markaz sought travel passes from the concerned government authorities but could not get permission.

On March 30-31, over 2,000 people, many of them foreigners, were evacuated from the Markaz and over 1,000 of them were later found to be infected with the highly contagious disease. After the incident, nationwide search operation was launched to trace those who attended the event and those who came in contact with the attendees.

After the incident, aggressive hateful campaign was launched on TV channels and social media holding Tablighi event responsible for the spread of the Coronavirus in the country.

The Delhi government also got an FIR lodged against the leaders of Tablighi Jamaat for holding the event in violation of the March 13 order.

(This is Ahmedabad based website.)
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