WEB DESK

We repose our full faith in the measures taken by the Government for tackling the deadly virus. We, nonetheless, urge the Government to take into consideration genuine constraints faced by certain people.

While declaring the lockdown, the PM had asked everyone to stay put wherever they were. One’s stay where he happened to be at the time should not, therefore, be misconstrued as a criminal act. Far from going into hiding, they had actually taken shelter where they were at the time.

This holds true for everyone, be they the people inside the Markaz in Nizamuddin or those in Jammu or those inside a Gurduwara in Majnu ka Tila in Delhi. All of them could not go home owing to the non-availability of transport consequent upon the sudden lockdown.

We, therefore, demand that the FIR lodged against the Tablighi Jamaat officials should be dropped. This is no time for finding fault. Rather, we all should focus on providing as much relief as possible to those in distress. The Joint-Secretary of Health, Government of India, has rightly asserted that at this juncture we should refrain from blame game.
Presently, we are faced with a crisis involving the very survival of Mankind. Any attempt to give it a sectarian twist would weaken our battle against the deadly virus.

We sincerely request the Tablighi Jamaat officials to keep their activities on the hold until complete normalcy returns and we gain total control over the virus.

Signatories

  1. Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, Chairman, Delhi Minorities Commission
  2. Prof. Akhtarul Wasey, President, Maulana Azad University, Jodhpur
  3. Prof. Mohsin Usmani Nadwi, President, Human Welfare Society
    4.Prof. A. R. Kidwai, Director, K. A. Nizami Centre for Quranic Studies, AMU
  4. Masoom Moradabadi, Secretary, All India Urdu Editors Conference
  5. Zaheeruddin Ali Khan, Managing Editor, Daily Siasat, Hyderabad
  6. Prof. Iqtedar Mohd. Khan, Deptt. of Islamic Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi