You Are Guilty!

Every verdict, one after another, says the members of Tablighi Jamaat were held for crimes they didn’t even commit. How did that happen?

The Saket Court (Delhi) Wednesday acquitted 36 foreigners facing trial for allegedly flouting COVID guidelines while participating in a Tablighi Jamaat event in March this year. The court observed that the plea raised by accused persons is “reasonably probable” that none of them was present at Markaz during the relevant period and they had been picked up from different places so as to maliciously prosecute them.

In October, a magistrate court in Andheri acquitted 20 foreign participants in a Tablighi Jamaat case in Delhi who were booked by the Mumbai Police for alleged breach of the rules of lockdown, ruling that there is no iota of evidence. “The witnesses were not found in a position to tell where and how the accused were residing at the time of the alleged offence. Thus, there is no iota of evidence with the prosecution to show any contravention of order beyond all shadow of a doubt. During the imposition of lockdown, their taking ultimate shelter in a mosque or nearby will not render them responsible for such contravention,” Metropolitan magistrate R.R. Khan said.

Earlier in August, dismissing the FIRs/Chargsheets registered by Mumbai Police against Tablighi Jamaat foreigners, the Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) came down strongly against the media propaganda over the issue. “There was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi and an attempt was made to create a picture that these foreigners were responsible for spreading COVID-19 virus in India”, the court said adding that there was “virtually persecution” against these foreigners.

A Delhi court, in July, allowed 2 Malaysians and 11 foreigners from Saudi Arabia to walk free on payment of fine of Rs 7,000 and Rs 10,000 each respectively after they accepted some mild charges under the plea bargain process, including various violations including visa norms while attending Tablighi Jamaat congregation here during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Aforementioned verdicts by different high courts unanimously and distinctly reject any iota of truth in wild accusations raised against members of Tablighi Jamaat. Every verdict, one after another, says the members of Jamaat were held for crimes they didn’t even commit. How did that happen?

What Exactly Happened?

In March, the Tablighi Jamaat was at the centre of a massive controversy, with authorities alleging that the participants had defied prohibitory orders and had become human carriers of Covid as a result of the congregation at the Nizamuddin Markaz.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) headed by Amit Shah, on 28 March, had written to the states that around 2,000 Tablighi Jamaat members from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand who entered India on tourist visas appeared to be “potential carriers”, and asked the states to “screen, quarantine” and deport them if possible.

Pliable Media In Its Role

This information was enough for Indian mainstream media to jump the gun. The pliable media houses, that are often accused of siding with the ruling compensation, didn’t miss the opportunity to turn the Tablighi Jamaat case into a Hindu-Muslim issue. The members of Jamaat were called names such as “super spreaders” and were accused of doing “Corona Jihad’. Lies, when wrapped with bigotry, travel faster than the truth. In this case, nobody even cared to check the facts before rasing random allegations against the members of Jamaat.

The DNA show presented by Sudhir Chaudhary of Zee News was ahead in villainizing the members. Some of the titles of Chaudhary’s show were conclusory in nature and so was the content of the show. Title of his March 31 show reads: तबलीगी जमात का देश से ‘विश्वासघात’? Simply translated, it asks if the Tablighi Jamaat has betrayed the country. Chaudhary’s show on April 4 was named “Tablighi ‘Jamaat’ की घटिया हरकतों की गवाहियां”, which translates as “Testimonies of Lousy Actions of Tablighi Jamaat”. In his show, Chaudhary says, “India stood stronger in front of the coronavirus till now. But this fight has been weakened by corrupted thinking. This thinking is of people from Tablighi Jamaat.” On April 6, the Zee news published that a medical team in Uttar Pradesh that was escorting Tablighi Jamaat members who had tested positive for the novel coronavirus was pelted with stones. Warning Zee News to remove its tweet based on the report, the Firozabad police tweeted, “You are spreading false and misleading news when neither a medical team nor any ambulance has been pelted with stones in Firozabad district. Delete your tweet immediately.”

आपके द्वारा असत्य एवं भ्रामक खबर फैलायी जा रही है जबकि जनपद फिरोजाबाद में न तो किसी मैडीकल टीम एवं न ही एम्बूलेंस गाडी पर किसी तरह का पथराव नहीं किया गया है । आप अपने द्वारा किये गये ट्विट को तत्काल डिलीट करें ।

— Firozabad Police (@firozabadpolice) April 6, 2020

Arnab Goswami, the Editor-in-chief of Republic TV, also ran shows that seemed intended to badmouth the religious congregation and its members. On April 6 Goswami ran a show with the title “Why Are The Tablighi Jamaat Attendees In Hiding?” With tickers such as #TablighiInHiding and “Tablighi Covid Threat”, Goswami and his channel made sure that they are villainizing the members of Jamaat, without providing any proof. In his monologue, Goswami makes it pretty clear that in some way or other, Tablighi Jamaat was responsible for the spread of coronavirus across the country. Title of his debate on April 7 is “India Won’t Put Up With Tablighi Insolence”.

Another star anchor from Times Now, Navika Kumar, ran a debate on April 8 regarding missing members of Tablighi Jamaat. The title of her show was “Tablighi still remains untraced, Is it time to file a murder charge?” and chose to call it “Ticking Tablighi time bomb”. Her colleague at Times Now, Rahul Shivshankar, was not behind in turning this issue into Hindu-Muslim issue. Title of his show on April 6 reads: “Lutyens slams ‘Saffron extremism’ but silent on Jamaat’s hate videos?” Description of his show on April 2 reads: “On India Upfront with Rahul Shivshankar, 25% of positive Corona cases in India have been traced to Tabligh. They broke the law and even ignored PM Narendra Modi’s pleas. Is Jamaat willfully sabotaging India?”

BJP Leaders Add Fuel To The Fire

However, it is not only these three channels who levelled serious allegations and ran a campaign against the Tablighi Jamaat. Many other English and Hindi channels were also a part of this campaign. These campaigns were also fuelled by remarks of some BJP leaders.

On May 3, UP CM Adityanath said that Tablighi Jamaat was behind the spread of coronavirus in Uttar Pradesh and other states. “In UP and other places where the spread of the novel coronavirus has been seen, Tablighi Jamaat is behind it. Had they not hidden the disease and went about like its carriers, then perhaps we would have controlled the coronavirus outbreak to a large extent,” the monk-turned-politician claimed.

On April 8, Karnataka BJP MLA M.P. Renukacharya said people who returned from the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi identified as a coronavirus hotspot but not seeking treatment should be shot dead. Spreading COVID-19 is “like terrorism”, Renukacharya said according to Deccan Herald, “all those who are spreading the virus are traitors”.

On April 7, Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis wrote a letter to the current Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanding strict actions against the Tablighi Jamaat. Fadnavis said the state government should not spare people who participated in the Delhi event. He further went on to add: “The people who attended the event and the people whom they came in contact with should be punished. The number India holds of COVID-19 majority are due to the Tablighi event in Delhi, this attitude cannot be spared. As its, a major issue and state government should be focusing on it showing its solidity while handling this pandemic.”

Why Not Say Sorry?

Late October, the News Broadcasting Standards Authority directed television channels Aaj Tak, Zee News, News 24 and India TV to comply with its order to issue an apology for its insensitive reporting and sensationalised reporting of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. The authority found them in violation of its guidelines and asked the channels to apologise to viewers on air.

Recent verdicts by high courts in different cases of Tablighi Jamaat members suggest that they were certainly not guilty of the acts they were accused of by the certain media channels and BJP leaders. However, no news channel or political leader have apologised for holding the group of Muslim sect responsible for spreading Covid-19. Maulana Saad, who heads a faction of Tablighi Jamaat, was also subjected to serious allegations. Zee News called him “Most Wanted Maulana“, while Arnab Goswami ran a show with hashtag #JailMaulanaSaad. Reportedly, there were cases filed by Crime Branch and ED against Maulana Saad, however, he has not been arrested yet under any charge.

Did Indian media go too far in villainizing the Tablighi Jamaat? The answer to this question is, absolutely! “There was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi,” the Bombay high court had said itself. Looking at the precedent set by NBSA in the broadcast of Sushant Singh Rajput case, shouldn’t these channels be asked to apologise for the misinformation and character-assassination of Jamaat members? The repeated acquittals of Jamaat members by various courts clearly reflect that they were victims of fake propaganda and bias. And for this misinformation campaign, dear Indian Media and BJP leaders, You Are Guilty!