Nizamuddin Markaz cleric Maulana Saad goes missing
In the past three days, more than 2,000 members have been removed from the Tablighi headquarters
Following a religious gathering at the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi, the sect has emerged as one of the top coronavirus hotspots in India.
The chief cleric of the sect, Maulana Saad and six others have been charged by the police, reports the NDTV.
Disregarding all coronavirus warnings and precautions, thousands of Tablighi Jamaat members, including those from other countries, attended the gathering in March. Many then travelled to different states, widening the spread of the highly contagious virus.
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More than 2,000 members have been removed from the Markaz Nizamuddin, the Tablighi headquarters, in the past three days.
Sources have said that Maulana Saad is missing; the cleric was last seen on Saturday, when coronavirus cases started surfacing.
Other than the sect's chief cleric, Delhi Police's First Information Report (FIR) has named Zeeshan, Mufti Shehzad, M Saifi, Younus, Mohammad Salman and Mohammed Ashraf. They have been charged under the Epidemic Disease Act, said Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava.
The FIR says these seven were responsible for the gathering and they allowed visitors to continue living in the building despite notice issued to them on March 24, the day the country went into a total lockdown to fight the spread of coronavirus.
Audio recording of a sermon posted on a "Delhi Markaj" YouTube channel is being examined by the Delhi Police Crime Branch. In the video, the speaker says there is no need to follow social distancing advised by the government. The speaker terms the coronavirus warnings as a "conspiracy to keep Muslims away from fellow Muslims".
"Where will you run from death? Death is in front of you... This is an occasion to seek penance from God. Not an occasion where one comes under the influence of doctors and stops Namaaz, meeting each other... Yes, there is a virus. But 70,000 angels are with me and if they can't save me, who will?"
"This is the time for more such gatherings, not the time to avoid each other... Who says if we meet then disease will spread? The disease will pass, but eating from the same plate, it will benefit us... This is a plan to end amity between Muslims, to alienate them from each other," says the speaker, which, some reports have said to be Maulana Saad.
Across India, 128 people with coronavirus have been traced to the gathering and many more cases are feared.
Indian police and Delhi government said the sect was warned about the gathering and had been asked to vacate Markaz Nizamuddin because of COVID-19 fears. But the organisers of the Tablighi gathering told the police, after being issued notice to vacate, that "people came before the lockdown was imposed, and the PM (Narendra Modi) in his speech said jo jahaan hai wahi rahe (all must stay wherever they are)".
The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary movement with members across the world, preaches a return to orthodox Muslim ways. As the coronavirus pandemic swept through the world. Tablighi Jamaat continued to organize gatherings that have been linked to coronavirus cases in countries like Malaysia and Pakistan.
