Religion is going to be the undoing of Indians and the central and state governments’ efforts if we are to lose this battle against the Wuhan virus. News reports have emerged that health camps in few villages of Ropar in Punjab have caused the spread of Wuhan virus. The 55-year-old husband of an ex-sarpanch in Chatmali had tested positive for the Wuhan virus. He did not have any travel history outside India and neither did he come in contact with the already known cases of the virus. After the local administration was thrown for a toss over the origin of the virus, it was found that he had attended a health camp in the village which was organized by Christian missionaries that had foreign nationals.
According to local authorities, the health camp was held without the permission of the health department and administration on March 13 in Chatmali. A total of 24 foreign nationals from different countries participated in the health camp and they gave medicines to villagers who underwent a check-up at the camp. Interestingly, none of the foreign nationals were a doctor and the medical check-up was conducted by local doctors.
When asked about the role of foreign nationals in the camps, the authorities revealed, “They came to collect charity and donation from villagers.”
It has been discovered that the patient’s wife and son have also tested positive for the virus. The trail of Christian missionaries is not limited to the Ropar district alone. They visited villages in other districts of Punjab as well and organized camps there. As a result, thousands of villagers in Punjab’s rural areas falling in different districts around Ropar are being quarantined.
Special Chief Secretary of Punjab, KBS Sidhu, said on Twitter on the 3rd of April that district administration was in contact with Pastor Randeep who he said brought 20 foreign nationals to the village. According to a Swarjya report, he, too, said that they had been to a few other villages as well. Randeep Mathews is Senior Pastor of New Life City Church and has been conducting medical camps in partnership with Christian evangelical organization, Impact Nations, headquartered in the United States and Canada.
Does not have travel history and did not go to Holla Mohalla . Apparently there was a health camp in the village by a Christian Missionary Foundation—Pastor Randeep Mathews and there was a team of doctors and few foreign nationals as tourists. (3/4).
— KBS Sidhu, ex-IAS 🇮🇳 (@kbssidhu1961) April 3, 2020
What Tablighi Jamaat did in Delhi, the Christian Missionary Foundation might have emulated in Punjab. And just like the Jamaat, the foreign evangelicals might have lied in their passports by coming on a tourist visa. Earlier, the home ministry had blacklisted 960 foreigners and their Indian visas were also canceled for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities while coming on tourist visas.
Where did we hear this name? Pastor Randeep Mathews. His soul harvesting org Impact Nations used to have a website telling his foreign RoL donors how to lie on visa applications to get tourist visa. pic.twitter.com/w0Qkp0hTjh
— Tracking Evangelism (@trackevangelism) April 3, 2020
The examples are aplenty where religious organizations have accelerated the spread of the deadly virus. From Malaysia to Seoul to Pakistan to Delhi to now Punjab, the names might have changed but the Jamaati’s and the Missionaries have wreaked havoc upon the millions and their lives through their irredeemable actions.
Nearly two-thirds of Wuhan virus cases of Malaysia are attributed to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kuala Lumpur. Over 100 were infected by the virus in Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province, Seoul after an official sprayed saltwater into member’s mouths.
The Jamaat recklessly repeated its mistakes of Malaysia and organized a congregation in Lahore in March that brought together tens of thousands of Islamic preachers from some 80 countries. With thousands of people assembling in a closed space, Lahore has also emerged as a potential infection cluster of the Wuhan virus.
The example of Delhi and Punjab further cement the fact that religion is opium for the masses and the injudicious actions of few endanger the lives of all.