The Tablighi Jamaat, held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin from 13th to 15th March is now sending shivers down the spines of Indians, as it has now been revealed that a congregation of 8000 people was held in the national capital, without due permission, and which now poses a threat to millions of Indians.
Authorities squared in on Nizamuddin as it became amply clear that there was a clear connection between many cases across India with the Tablighi Jamaat. Close to 1500 people have been staying at the Banglewali Masjid, throughout the nationwide lockdown. Close to 300 of them developed symptoms of Coronavirus, which revealed the sheer immensity of problems that Nizamuddin now poses to the nation.
Meanwhile, closet Islamists are having a rather tough time defending the actions of the Tablighi Jamat, which is known to proselytize the kaafirs and make people live a life like the Prophet. Javed Akhtar is one such specimen.
Tahir Mehmood Saheb an scholar n the Ex chairman of the minority commision has asked Darul ulum Deoband to give a Fatwa to close all the mosques till corona crisis is there. I totally support his demand If Kaaba n the mosque in Madina canbe closed down why not Indian mosques
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) March 30, 2020
Javed Akhtar in his tweet says that a scholar and ex-minority commission chairman, Tahir Mehmood has urged the Darul Uloom Deoband to issue a fatwa to all Mosques across the nation, ordering them to shut operations. He further says that if Mecca can be shut, so can the mosques here in India.
What Javed Akhtar does not realize is that unlike the Islamic States, in India, the law must be abided by all citizens, irrespective of their religion. If the government has announced a nationwide lockdown, it must be followed by all people and all institutions. There is absolutely no need for a special fatwa to be issued by Deoband in order to ‘urge’ Mosques to shut operations. And if that is indeed the case, it goes on to show how these institutions have absolute disregard towards the law and the government’s fight against a global pandemic.
What Javed Akhtar should instead tell his compatriots, is to follow the guidelines and shut all mosques even without a fatwa being issued to the same effect. He should further ask the clerics if a government order is not sufficient enough to make people of his community believe that there is an imminent threat to all lives due to COVID-19. Of course, he would do this if the man had some sanity. As opposed to his own claims of being an ‘atheist’ and ‘rationalist’, Akhtar is nothing more than a closet Islamist, thinking that his community enjoys special privileges and needs to be issued clerical orders to go about all aspects of their lives.
The same should have applied for the Tablighi Jamaat as well. However, being the radical Islamists that constitute the jamaat, it would be too much for us to ask them to oblige to the guidelines in place back when their conference was being held. Delhi Police have further stated that the event did not have requisite permissions to be held. It must be remembered that the Delhi government prohibited all seminars and conferences on March 13th. Yet, that did not dilute the resolve of the participants and organizers, who went ahead with the same, hence threatening the lives of 1.3 billion Indians now.
In a video which has surfaced, a team of officials is seen requesting caretakers of a mosque to help the administration by asking people to stay indoors and not flout the lockdown guidelines. They are also seen asking the clerics to direct Muslims to remain indoors and offer prayers from home. Despite the calm demeanour of the officials, the cleric (presumably) is seen raising his tone and refusing to comply with the requests of the officials. This shows how uncooperative a certain section of people are towards India’s fight against Coronavirus.
https://twitter.com/Vivek_Gaur/status/1244347161761865728?s=20
India’s fight against Coronavirus has suffered an irreparable blow due to the callousness of a few who constantly keep religion over public health and safety. The law must deal with such anti-social elements, and Javed Akhtar must learn to live in the limits of India’s constitution. We are not a Sharia state, and have no interest in becoming one.
