Hyderabad: Nationally noted lawyer Shafeeq R. Mahajir has requested “all Muslim brothers and sisters to take very serious note of the COVID-19 disease, scarcity of treatment and testing facilities, learn from the experience of other countries and prevent damage in our own country.”
Speaking to siasat.com he said on Sunday (June 7) in his inimitable style, “My advice to all my Muslim brothers and sisters is to take very serious note of what happened in both South Africa as well as Saudi Arabia when after lockdown worshippers were permitted to attend congregational prayers at Masaajid (mosques). In both those countries, the number of people infected by Covid-19 rose dramatically, and there have been several reported deaths among infected persons
“Since a very large number of these infected persons were Muslims, the conclusion is that they were infected during visits to the Masaajid. A 21 year old son of a medical doctor died of Covid-19. When after his demise the diagnosis showed the cause, his family members were screened and found Covid-positive although none of them had any symptoms. It is therefore entirely possible that asymptomatic carriers of the disease can without realising it spread the disease causing fatalities. In addition the serious dearth of testing and treatment facilities will seriously aggravate the problem.
“Finally from what has been alleged after the Tablighi Jamaat Nizamuddin Markaz event, any such increase in infection will immediately provide an opportunity to Muslim-hostile groups to intensify their campaign of maliciously maligning and vilifying Muslims as a community and level all sorts of baseless allegations to intensify an already communally vitiated atmosphere.
“I, therefore, earnestly request all my Muslim brothers and sisters to take very serious note of the disease, scarcity of treatment and testing facilities, learn from experience of other countries and prevent similar damage in our country. Three weeks after reversing of the lockdown, you can independently evaluate the situation and if the Covid-positive cases do not increase, decide, on the basis of how the situation unfolds, what is suitable for you and in the interests of the nation and our community.