Tablighi Jamaat members still under the scanner

A plea has been moved in Delhi High Court seeking the immediate release of all persons related to Tabligi Jamaat, currently lodged in quarantine centers in the city. It has been alleged that these people have been “detained for more than 35 days in the name of quarantine centers,” reported news agency Asian News International (ANI), the matter will be heard tomorrow, May 15.

Meanwhile, other news reports have also stated that the Delhi Police has opposed a plea seeking the transfer of probe in Tablighi case to the National Investigation Agency. It has also been reported that passports of hundreds of TJ members have also been seized. 

The Indian Express has reported that the  Delhi Police on its part has opposed the plea seeking that the case against Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad  accusing him of holding the markaz gahring allegedly in violation of government orders “aimed at containing the spread of coronavirus” be  transfered for probe to the NIA. The IE reported that a bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and Anup Jairam Bhambhani asked the petitioner to place before it the judgments in support of his plea, seeking direction to the NIA to “probe the matter in a time-bound manner and for the probe to be monitored by the HC.”

As reported earlier, most news coverage related to the breakout of the COVID 19 pandemic had  been sensationalised and concentrated on the Tablighi Jamaat’s Congregation held from March 11-13 in Delhi.  The Delhi government had called it a ‘COVID19 hotspot’. 

A criminal case was registered against Maulana Saad and other members of the Tablighi Jamaat were  booked under some sections of the Disaster Management Act and Sections 269 (Negligent act likely to spread infection of disease), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease), 271 (disobedience to quarantine rule) and 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Markaz Nizamuddin, the international headquarters of the Jamaat for nearly 100 years, had said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Janta Curfew” on March 22, they discontinued ongoing programmes but a large number of people were stuck there because of the closure of transport services.

According to the latest news, a petitioner identified as Ghanshyam Upadhyay has alleged that the Delhi Police has “failed to arrest the leader despite considerable time having lapsed.” This plea has been opposed by Delhi government standing counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra and advocate Chaitanya Gosain who say that the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch “is probing the matter as per law.”  The counsel for the MHA also questioned the locus of Upadhyay and sought to know how he was affected. The court listed the matter for May 28, say news reports.

Most mainstream news is no longer reporting how members of Tablighi Jamaat have been  breaking their Ramzan fast as they continue to donate blood plasma after they have recovered from Covid19 themselves. A video shared online via Hindustan Times, shows them saying they will do it as much as they can.

Related: 

Will the hate mongering against India’s Muslim community stop if Tablighi head’s viral audio clip turns out to be doctored?

Communal forces using Covid-19 as fodder to target minorities?

Maulana Saad’s error of judgement has put an entire community at risk

Is the charge of criminal conspiracy against Tablighi members justified?