The signatories say that there were many other gatherings around that time but the Tablighi Jamaat event is getting communalized to further Islamophobia.
Over a hundred people from different walks of life have issued a statement condemning the communalisation of COVID-19 as has happened in the aftermath of the Tablighi Jamaat event in Nizamuddin, Delhi, and the spurt in cases since then.
The signatories included professors, lawyers, anthropologists, political scientists, sociologists, scientists, researchers of technology, food activists, NGO workers in the fields of gender, development and education.
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| Indian profs, lawyers, social workers issue statement against communalisation of COVID-19. |
While acknowledging that the event should have been canceled, much like any other public events amid the pandemic, the signatories point out that the jamaat’s event was organized before the COVID-19 restrictions against congregations were announced. “[…] the fact that other religious gatherings occurred without eliciting a similar response, the move by the Delhi police to file an FIR against members of the Jamaat is unacceptable,” the statement says.
“The Delhi police’s directive to evacuate the premises came only on March 24th; following the Janata curfew, it became difficult for people to disperse in the light of the tightened security and travel restrictions. Besides, the Delhi government did not give clear instructions in its order of 13th March on what was banned: while sports and conference events were banned, there was no mention of religious congregations. The Delhi police did not attempt to remove the attendees or stop the event while it was being organized,” it adds.
The signatories also argue that singling out Tablighi Jamaat attendees ignored other large gatherings that happened around the same time. Many were even attended by politicians such as the swearing-in ceremony of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan on March 23, and Karnataka Chief Minister attending a wedding on March 15 with over a thousand people present.
In contrast, the Tablighi Jamaat event has been communalized to fan islamophobia, the statement points out. “It is alarming to see how the mainstream media has used this incident to fan anti-Muslim rhetoric. Muslims are being blamed for the spread of the virus across the country. They are being called ‘corona bombs’, and ‘enemies of the nation’ on TV channels, and anchors are mouthing phrases like ‘corona jihad’. One channel even ran a banner with the Islamophobic catchphrase “Corona Aaya, maulana laaya.” It is not only TV channels that have partaken of this hate-fest; Amit Malviya in his tweets clubbed the Shaheen Bagh protests and the Markaz Nizamuddin congregation as ‘an Islamic insurrection of sorts’. Delhi’s BJP chief, Manoj Tiwari called the congregation a conspiracy and asked for an investigation into the event that allowed people who came on a tourist visa to carry out religious activities.”
“The moves to brand Muslims as ‘superspreaders’ of the disease are particularly abhorrent given that they are staged to coincide with a massive infrastructural and administrative failure to deal with the unspeakable tragedy of migrants losing lives on account of traveling across states on foot. Coming on the back of the hate-filled rhetoric constructed around the anti-CAA protests and the targeted violence against Muslims in North Delhi, this only serves to expose them to even greater harm and potential violence,” it adds.
Condemning the Islamophobia and communication of the pandemic, the signatories say that the need of the hour is to facilitate adequate access to testing, contact tracing, community testing, and for people to refrain from criminalizing any particular community. It is also important to create “safe exceptions for migrants to move within controlled conditions to avoid further loss of life and health hazards,” the statement says.
The signatories have appealed to the Indian government and media establishments to refrain from using Muslims and other minorities as ‘scapegoats’ on the pretext of COVID-19 safety measures.
