New Delhi: Commenting upon the Tablighi Jamaat incident, president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) Maulana Arshad Madani said it has served to make every Muslim an enemy in the eyes of the majority. He claimed that vested interests are using it as a weapon to distance non-Muslims from Muslims, making them think that that only Muslims can cause them danger, so maintain your distance and hatred against them.
The Tablighi Jamaat has been widely criticised for holding the congregation at its Nizamuddin headquarters in Delhi in mid-March that has emerged as a Covid-19 cluster. According to the health ministry, 1,445 of the positive coronavirus cases in India are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.
Alleging that a section of the media is spreading communal hatred over last month’s Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to stop dissemination of “fake news” and take strict action against those responsible for it.
The Print quoted Madani as saying, “Each time there was a bomb blast in the country, and the home ministry would find some Muslim men to blame. These men would then rot in jail for eternity, even if they were innocent.”
Calling the bashing of Tablighi Jamaat a continuation of the same vilification, Maulana Madani said government wants everyone to think that Muslims alone have brought upon this crisis to the nation. He called it a misfortune of this country that even a pandemic can be reduced to a Hindu-Muslim issue.
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid slammed the Muslims who are going on TV shows saying Muslim scholars going to TV debates to talk about the incident are also doing everyone a disservice. Tablighi Jamaat should have been more careful said Bukhari. However he also asserted that this isn’t a time to point fingers and play the blame-game. “It’s the time to look ahead and make everything better,” Bukhari added.
Saying that “No one is defending what the Tablighi Jamaat did,” Ejaz Aslam, general secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind noted that it is downright deplorable to make it out to be some sort of a deliberate conspiracy against the country.
Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of another faction of the JUH argued that the incident and its coverage have led to many cases of harassment of Muslims. He pointed out incidents like some colonies banning the entry of Muslims, a Muslim pregnant woman denied entry into a hospital, a Muslim mocked and forced to commit suicide, etc.
The Muslim scholars while condemning the ‘communalisation’ of the incident, asked the community members to cooperate with the administration and strictly follow the regulations.