The former J&K CM Omar Abdullah said those tweeting with hashtags like “Tablighi virus” are “more dangerous” that any virus nature can “conjure”.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said Muslims should not be blamed for the spread of coronavirus in the country.
He was reacting to netizens’ response to reports that several people who tested positive for COVID-19 had attended a congregation of Tabligh-e-Jamaat, a Muslim religious organisation, at Nizamuddin in Delhi earlier this month.
“Now the #TablighiJamat will become a convenient excuse for some to vilify Muslims everywhere as if we created & spread #COVID around the world,” Mr Abdullah said in a series of tweets.
“At first glance it would appear the #TablighiJamat were nothing if not irresponsible in the way they went about things but that’s not unique to them. The majority of Muslims in India have heeded government guidelines and advice the same as anyone else,” he added.
Important to read the statement that was put out by #TablighiJamat clarifying all the steps they took to implement the government guidelines. I tried to get it in a format I could share directly here but that wasn’t possible so sharing this tweet instead. https://t.co/gwSqNmWnHg
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 31, 2020
Ninety-one people who attended the event at Delhi’s Nizamuddin from March 1-15 have tested positive for the virus. Seven people have died because of the disease contracted at the function.
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Delhi’s Nizamuddin area has emerged as one of the biggest hotspots of novel coronavirus transmission in India with at least 24 persons testing positive and over 200 people showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Officials in the Delhi administration said that besides locals and 281 foreigners from 16 countries, including Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia, as many as 1,558 Indians from 19 states and UTs had attended the religious event at Nizamudding mosque.
“Of the total 281 foreigners, 72 came from Indonesia, 19 were from Nepal, 20 from Malaysia, 33 from Myanmar, 28 from Kyrgystan, 34 from Sri Lanka, 19 from Bangladesh, seven from Thailand, three from England, four from Fiji, and one each from Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Singapore, France and Kuwait,” the official said.
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