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Muslims fear backlash of India’s coronavirus fury

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">After communal clashes in Telinpara and Bhadreswa, BJP MP Arjun Singh shared a video of bleeding Muslim men as Hindus attacked in West Bengal. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AltNewsFactCheck?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AltNewsFactCheck</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/thisisjignesh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thisisjignesh</a> <a href="https://t.co/J2lI08Eh3t">https://t.co/J2lI08Eh3t</a></p>— Alt News (@AltNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/AltNews/status/1262389017536073731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Just another day.
 
Like India, Sri Lanka is using coronavirus to stigmatise Muslims

The world is going through a period of unprecedented instability, distress and uncertainty. The novel coronavirus pandemic, and the threat posed by it to the socioeconomic fabric of nations, pushed many governments around the world into an existential crisis and forced them to switch to survival mode. Populist politicians in these countries, who failed to respond to this public health crisis swiftly and efficiently, resorted to scapegoating minority communities, especially Muslims, to justify their shortcomings.

This has put millions of people, who were subjected to discrimination, abuse and oppression even before the start of the pandemic, in a bind. In many countries around the world underprivileged Muslims are now facing not only a pandemic that is threatening their lives and livelihoods, but also a spike in institutionalised Islamophobia.

In India, since the emergence of COVID-19, members of the country's 200 million-strong Muslim community have repeatedly been accused of being "super spreaders" of coronavirus both by the media and the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In late March, after a Muslim religious gathering in New Delhi allegedly led to a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, a politician from the BJP dubbed the gathering "corona terrorism", and called for Muslims who attend mosques amid the pandemic to be "punished like terrorists". As a result, "corona jihad" became a trending topic on social media and many Muslims, including volunteers distributing relief material, faced physical and verbal attacks. A BJP legislator from the state of Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, called for a boycott of Muslim vendors, accusing them of "infecting vegetables with saliva".

The Indian media also contributed to the stigmatisation of Muslims during the pandemic. As politicians continued their efforts to blame the rapid spread of the virus in the country on Muslims, pro-government media organisations ran shows and published reports that support this unfounded accusation. As a result, Muslims who had only a few months ago survived a pogrom in New Delhi found themselves with an even bigger target on their backs.

India's government treated the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to double down on its existing Islamophobic policies. Since the start of this public health emergency, it not only used Muslims as a scapegoat to divert attention from the shortcomings of its coronavirus response, but also managed to deepen the Hindu majority's existing prejudices about this community.

In neighbouring Sri Lanka, the government chose to use the pandemic as an excuse to stigmatise Muslims and pander to Islamophobia.

Sri Lanka is an island nation with a vibrant multireligious and multi-ethnic heritage. But Islamophobic propaganda persistently spread by the media and politicians over the years, coupled with attacks by radical Muslim groups in Sri Lanka and the mainstreaming of Islamophobia across the world, led to the marginalisation of Muslims in the country. Muslims faced waves of violence at the hands of Buddhist nationalists. The government was accused of not doing enough to protect this minority community and bring those who attack them to justice.

So, unsurprisingly, when COVID-19 reached Sri Lanka, some prominent media organisations and nationalists who are close to the current government were quick to blame Muslims, who form nearly 10 percent of the population, for the spread of the virus. Just like in India, Muslim religious practices were singled out as "super spreader events" and Sri Lankans who belong to the Buddhist majority were warned not to buy food items from Muslim vendors.

In April, the government made cremations compulsory for coronavirus victims, which goes against the Islamic tradition of burying the dead. The measure not only deprived Muslims of a basic religious right, but it contributed to the widespread perception that Muslim religious practices aid the spread of the virus.

Islam has at its heart the sanctity of life and honouring the dead is an extension of that sanctity. There are four duties that Muslims are obligated to perform upon the passing away of a fellow Muslim; they are to wash the body, shroud it with clean sheets, perform the funeral prayer even if only with a few people, and provide a dignified burial.

When called on to take all the necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus, the majority of Muslim communities, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, agreed to adjust their burial practices accordingly, especially in regards to the first two duties.

There is no scientific basis to the claim that burying bodies of victims contributes to the spread of the coronavirus. Countries across the world, from Europe to Africa and North America, are burying coronavirus victims, according to the detailed guidelines issued by their governments, and without causing any risk to public health.

The Sri Lankan government's decision to make cremation mandatory for all victims of COVID-19 is thus not a public health measure but a blatant act of institutionalised Islamophobia. It speaks to the larger fears that amid the coronavirus pandemic the Indian model of disenfranchisement is being tested in Sri Lanka as well.

India and Sri Lanka are not the only countries in which Muslims face increased risks, abuse and discrimination due to the coronavirus crisis.

In China, Uighurs and other Turkic-Muslim minorities are still subjected to the most unimaginable forms of abuse at the hands of the government. According to the UN, about one million Uighurs are being held within so-called "re-education camps" in unhygenic and cramped conditions. As I wrote at the very beginning of this crisis, this puts them at an increased risk of contracting the novel coronavirus. It is also not known whether they have immediate access to healthcare.

The suffering of Rohingya Muslims, who in 2017 faced a military offensive in Myanmar for which the government is facing genocide charges at the UN's top court, has also increased due to the pandemic.Today, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are living in densely populated camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. A COVID-19 outbreak in the overcrowded camps is almost certain to come - and when it does, experts say, the damage could be severe. A Rohingya refugee in the camps already tested positive for the virus last week.

The governments of both China and Myanmar are using the coronavirus pandemic to divert attention from the crimes they committed, and continue to commit, against Muslim minorities in their countries. Political leaders across the world are using racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia as potent tools for short-term gains during this pandemic.

The world must act immediately and decisively to hold these leaders and governments to account to ensure we do not let the rise of COVID-19 contribute to the rise of fascism.
https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/o...virus-stigmatise-muslims-200519134939934.html
 
Madhya Pradesh Police Apologise for Beating Lawyer, 'We Thought You Were Muslim,' They Say

New Delhi: In Madhya Pradesh’s Betul, an incident which is striking in its example of Islamophobia and police highhandedness has come to light.

On March 23, a lawyer Deepak Bundele was beaten up brutally by the state police while he was on his way to a government hospital for treatment. A month later, he is under pressure from the police to withdraw his complaint. Police officials, in their defence, told Bundele that he was beaten up because they had wrongly identified him as a Muslim man.

Speaking to The Wire, Bundele said that on March 23, between 5.30 and 6 pm, he was on his way to the hospital when he was stopped by the police. “The nationwide lockdown hadn’t come into place then but Section 144 had been imposed in Betul. I have been an acute diabetic and blood pressure patient for the last 15 years. Since I was not feeling well, I decided to visit the hospital and get some medicines. But I was stopped by the police midway.”

Bundele, who sports a beard, said that he explained to police personnel that he had to get his medicines but one of them slapped him without trying to listen to what he was saying.

“I told them that they should act within constitutional limits, and that I was ready to be detained under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code if the police thought so. On hearing this, the police personnel lost their temper, and started abusing me and the Indian constitution. Within no time, many police officials came and started beating me up with sticks,” Bundele said.

Only after he said he was a lawyer and would take them to task did they stop beating him, he said. “But by that time my ear had started bleeding profusely,” Bundele alleged.

He called his friend and brother to accompany him to the hospital later, and got a medicolegal case (MLC) report done.

On March 24, he filed a complaint with the district Superintendent of Police D.S. Bhadoria and the state Director General of Police Vivek Johri.

He wrote subsequent letters to the chief minister, state’s human rights commission, the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh high court and top government officials. Bundele also said he filed a RTI application for the CCTV footage of the March 23 incident, but was denied the information. “I received a reply saying that I had not clearly stated the reason for which I made the RTI request. But I have been told unofficially that the CCTV footage may have been deleted from the government files,” the lawyer said.

Since then, he alleged, police have been trying really hard to get him to withdraw the complaint. “First, some of the top officials told me that they could issue a statement condemning and apologising for the incident, if I withdraw my complaint. Then some told me that if my brother, who is also a lawyer, and I wanted to practice law peacefully, I should stop pursuing my complaint.”

However, Bundele didn’t budge. In his March 24 complaint to the SP he requested the district police to file an FIR against the incident. On that basis, a few police officials came to his house on May 17 to record his version. This is when the police told him that this was a case of mistaken identity, and that the police officials thought he was a Muslim.

“It should have taken the police officials not more than five minutes to record my version, but it took around three hours as they kept trying to convince me to withdraw the complaint,” Bundele said.

According to the voice recording Bundele shared with The Wire, voices allegedly belonging to police officials are heard saying that his assault was a mistake on the part of a few officials who thought he was a Muslim because of his beard. Then they go on to say that police generally support the Hindus in a situation of communal riots.

“We seek an apology on behalf of those officials [who assaulted Bundele]. We are truly embarrassed because of the incident. If you want I can bring those officials and make them apologise in person to you,” the alleged police officials are heard saying.
“I am making a heartfelt request to you to write, ‘the police did not behave indecently with me or beat me up’. Please agree to our request; understand that we are living in Gandhi’s country; we are all Gandhi’s children…I have at least 50 friends from your caste,” the police official said.

When Bundele insisted that he had nothing personal against him or any police official and declined to withdraw his complaint, the police official said:

“All those people are ashamed that they did something like this to a Hindu brother without knowing his identity.

“We do not have any enmity against you. Whenever there is a Hindu-Muslim riot, police always supports the Hindus; even Muslims know this. But whatever happened with you was because of ignorance. For that, I have no words,” he said.

Bundele clarified that there was no Hindu-Muslim riot that day, and asked whether he was beaten for being wrongly identified as a Muslim. The police officials agreed, and said:

“Yes, exactly. You had a long beard. The man (who assaulted you) is a kattar (staunch) Hindu…In Hindu-Muslim riots whenever a Muslim is arrested, he beats them up brutally, always.”

Bundele then goes on to say that he had been a professional journalist with leading dailies in Bhopal for 10 years, and came back to Betul only in 2017 to practice law while insisting that he won’t withdraw his complaint. He said that he has already requested top officials of the state and the country to take action in the case, and therefore, will pursue the complaint now.

An FIR against this case has still not been registered, Bundele said. “I was struck by the way the police officials apologised. Even if I was a Muslim, what gives the police the right to assault them without any cause,” he said.

The Wire sent a request to the Betul SP for a comment, but he has not replied. The story will be updated if and when his response comes.
https://thewire.in/communalism/madhya-pradesh-lawyer-police-betul
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A video of social distancing not being followed in a Pakistani market is viral as Muslims flouting lockdown in Hyderabad's Madina market ahead of Eid. The same clip has also been shared as Delhi. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AltNewsFactCheck?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AltNewsFactCheck</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Coronavirus?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Coronavirus</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/HereisKinjal?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HereisKinjal</a> <a href="https://t.co/1qBU3YJYwM">https://t.co/1qBU3YJYwM</a></p>— Alt News (@AltNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/AltNews/status/1263448925278781441?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2020</a></blockquote>
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A British man has been detained in an Indian prison after being accused of breaching the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown rules.

Sohail Hughes, 29, had been on an extended holiday to visit family in the Gujarat region before undertaking a pilgrimage of mosques when he was detained last month.

His family, who have a launched a petition to have him freed, have claimed he is being unlawfully held by Indian officials.

Hughes’ sister, Aatika, said he was forced to take refuge in a mosque in Bhopal after being caught out by the swiftly implemented lockdown laws requiring people to stay off the streets.

Aatika, 35, says her brother, alongside dozens of other men, had his passport seized before being kept in quarantine for more than a month inside a hostel. While in quarantine Hughes has been repeatedly tested for Covid-19 and has always been negative.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">In this viral video, head of Kanpur Medical College is seen making highly objectionable comments about Muslim <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/covid19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#covid19</a> patients. Accuses CM <a href="https://twitter.com/myogiadityanath?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@myogiadityanath</a> of indulging in Muslim appeasement politics. She was the one who had accused Tablighi Jamaar members of spitting last month <a href="https://t.co/UhcKBe9A8t">pic.twitter.com/UhcKBe9A8t</a></p>— Rifat Jawaid (@RifatJawaid) <a href="https://twitter.com/RifatJawaid/status/1267128495362068481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
So Bal Thackeray party is now the gospel truth for you guys?

It’s not about who said it, it’s about common sense and double standards. The Tableegh event that created a huge backlash in India happened around the same time as this rally didn’t it?

If the TJ event could be held responsible then doesn’t it make sense that this massive rally could have also led to spread of covid?
 
https://www.dnaindia.com/india/repo...jarat-mumbai-shiv-sena-mp-sanjay-raut-2826432

I wonder if Modi will be held to the same standards as the TJ people and Muslims in general were.

You dont have to wonder anything because its just Sanjay Raut's personal opinion which means nothing. There is no proof that Trump's visit caused corona spread in India. Trump visited in mid february when there was hardly any Corona awareness. Sanjay Raut is simply trying to hide massive failure of his own Shiv Sena govt in Maharastra where Covid 19 cases are highest.
 
It’s not about who said it, it’s about common sense and double standards. The Tableegh event that created a huge backlash in India happened around the same time as this rally didn’t it?

If the TJ event could be held responsible then doesn’t it make sense that this massive rally could have also led to spread of covid?

Tableegi Jamaat spread Corona Virus in India was proven by medical science and tests conducted. Read below:

https://theprint.in/india/iim-study...irst-week-as-result-of-tablighi-event/397810/

No proof that Trump spread any virus in India whatsoever. You are just cluching the straws unfortunately.
 
You dont have to wonder anything because its just Sanjay Raut's personal opinion which means nothing. There is no proof that Trump's visit caused corona spread in India. Trump visited in mid february when there was hardly any Corona awareness. Sanjay Raut is simply trying to hide massive failure of his own Shiv Sena govt in Maharastra where Covid 19 cases are highest.

I am sure this Raut person has his motives and my point isn’t about him. The Tableegh event took place in early March while this rally was in late February. So not much time difference, so how come one group was rounded, tested and vilified while the people in this rally weren’t tested or held responsible? You don’t see the double standards?
 
Tableegi Jamaat spread Corona Virus in India was proven by medical science and tests conducted. Read below:

https://theprint.in/india/iim-study...irst-week-as-result-of-tablighi-event/397810/

No proof that Trump spread any virus in India whatsoever. You are just cluching the straws unfortunately.

Were the people in rally tested? How would their be proof without testing?

I am open to be proven wrong but were the attendees of the Trump rally rounded up and tested like the TJ people were? It’s a very simple question.
 
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How lives were destroyed under cover of lockdown in a small Indian town

In Telinipara, West Bengal, Hindu attackers burned Muslim homes and shops and vandalised mosques

Under the cover of lockdown, they came. Armed with petrol bombs, acid bombs, gas cylinders, molotov cocktails and explosives, the men, numbering around 100, piled stealthily into small boats to cross over the Ganges river. Reaching their target, the banks of the small town of Telinipara, they climbed ashore. And then, they pounced.

The violent onslaught that began at midday of 12 May was the pinnacle of the worst outbreak of religious violence in India since the riots that ripped through north-east Delhi in February, killing over 50 people. Over three days in this small town in West Bengal, which, like the rest of India was under a strict nationwide coronavirus lockdown that confined everyone to their homes, Hindu attackers burned and decimated Muslim homes and shops and vandalised two mosques and a Muslim shrine. According to multiple accounts given to the Guardian, the perpetrators also exposed themselves to Muslim women and made rape and death threats as they carried out the brutality. In retaliation, local Muslims then began setting fire to Hindu homes. Of the 55 buildings eventually destroyed, around 45 belonged to Muslims.

“We are ruined, they reduced everything to ashes,” recalled Rubina Khatun, 22, who was with her four-year-old son when her home came under attack on 12 May. “They threw petrol bombs into our room and set it on fire. All nine Muslim houses in our row were attacked and four of them, including ours, were burned or destroyed completely.

Speaking through shuddering sobs, Khatun continued: “The attackers stood on the roof next door and started shouting unthinkably vulgar abuses at me. ‘Are you having sex with your son? He cannot satisfy you. Wait, I am coming to your room …’ one said and then pulled down his shorts. Another shouted, ‘We will rape all the Muslim women here’.”

“Why are the Hindus attacking us so cruelly?” she said. “Do we have no right to live in India just because we are Muslim?”

Since Narendra Modi’s far-right Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) took power in India in 2014, with an agenda to make India a Hindu rather than secular nation, India’s Muslims - who make up 14% of the country – have faced increasing persecution, often state-sponsored. Already socio-economically disadvantaged, Muslims have faced discrimination, boycotts and fatal lynchings and a recent amendment to the citizenship law, introduced in December, ruled that refugees from all religions except Islam could have Indian citizenship.

Modi’s landslide re-election win in May last year marked an escalation in the Hindu nationalist agenda, and with that came more brazenly anti-Muslim rhetoric from BJP leaders and politicians. It was the provocative comments of a BJP leader that are widely acknowledged to have sparked the communal riots in Delhi in February. And as coronavirus began to take hold across India in March, it was the comments of BJP politicians and public figures that helped fuel the widely-adopted conspiracy theory that it was a “Muslim virus” and that Muslims across the country were on a mission of “corona jihad” to infect innocent Hindus.

The scapegoating of Muslims as coronavirus “super-spreaders” was followed by everything from the boycotts of Muslim businesses to refusals by hospitals to take in Muslim patients. But in Telinipara, it manifested as an all-out anti-Muslim riot. This week, the police filed cases against two BJP MPs for their role in triggering the violence.

The trouble began for Telinipara when it emerged that five Muslims had tested positive for coronavirus in early May. Within hours, in many Hindu majority localities of Telinipara, the residents set up blockades on roads and lanes to bar Muslims from entering.

“Muslims were banned from using public toilets and collecting food provisions from ration shops,” said Mohammad Hashim, a local municipality councillor. “In the neighbouring town of Chandannagar, using loudspeakers, some Hindus made public announcements, asking people not to let Muslims from Telinipara enter the area. Hindu youths even threatened to beat up Hindu shopkeepers if they sold anything to Muslims.”

It was also on 10 May that things began to turn violent. The first reported incident was that night when a gang of young Hindu men from the village who, armed with sticks and metal rods, attacked a group of Muslims living in a labourer colony and demanded they leave the colony. In retaliation, local Muslim men began attacking Hindu shops and homes, burning some to the ground.

On 11 May, West Bengal BJP MP Locket Chatterjee spoke to a local TV channel, claiming that Muslims in Telinipara were violently refusing to comply with coronavirus quarantine. “In Telinipara, Muslims have vandalised and set fire to Hindu households,” she said. “Those who attacked the Hindus are all corona positive. They do not want to go on quarantine. They are moving around freely in the Hindu localities. They want to infect all Hindus. Even police have not taken any action against them.”

However police, health officials and those who tested positive have since confirmed to the Guardian that this statement was false and all five reported to the police station as requested and had been peacefully taken to a local quarantine centre.

Another Bengal BJP MP, Arjun Singh, also waded in, posting a photo of one of the Muslim labourers who had been injured in the first attack. But Singh claimed the man was an injured Hindu, beaten by Muslim mobs, and posted on Faceboook: “How long will the blood of Hindus flow on in Bengal … we will not stay quiet if they [Muslims] attack ordinary people. You are playing with fire. Bengal will burn to ashes.”

The next day, on 11 May, Singh posted: “If police and [West Bengal] government are not protecting the Hindus, we will come out and fight to the last drop of our blood, to save our own people.”

Humayun Kabir, local commissioner of police, confirmed that after an enquiry, the police had filed two cases against Singh and one against Chatterjee accusing them of inciting rioting and a cybercrime investigation was being carried out into Singh’s social media posts.

However, Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP national general secretary, denied the BJP had any involvement in the riots and insisted it was caused by Muslims violating lockdown who “attacked Hindu dominated areas”. He accused police commissioner Kabir of being biased and said he has “instigated crimes against the victims, ie Hindus.”

“Our MPs had been there [in Telinipara] to protect Hindus,” he added. “They were there to stop the riot but have been slapped with riot cases. I demand an enquiry against the accused police officials.”

Yet as Chatterjee and Singh’s words began to be shared widely on social media, it appears that Hindus in the surrounding area began to mobilise. “Go ahead, Arjun Singh. We are with you on your mission,” one comment read. The next day, the armed mob of 100 men boarded boats to Telinipara and launched their attack.

Mohammad Sajid, a 22-year-old Muslim resident of Telinipara who witnessed the men descend, said that most of the Hindu attackers were outsiders, not from the village, and most carried guns with them.

“They were around 100 young men,” said Sajid. “Almost all of them used gamchha [a thin towel] to mask their faces. Some of them carried iron rods, crowbars and hammers. Some carried bombs and Molotov cocktails. As soon as they appeared in the Muslim area they started throwing the bombs and Molotov cocktails targeting the Muslim houses and many Muslims started screaming for help. Most Muslims, including women and children, latched up their front doors from inside and slipped out through their back doors.”

Police allegedly ignored the frantic calls from victims. Sajid added: “The rioters broke open the front doors using heavy tools and entered the houses carrying jerry cans, apparently filled with petrol. Gas cylinders exploded inside most of the houses and within moments they burst aflame.”

In the aftermath of the attack, the Muslim and Hindu communities, many of whom had lived in small shacks which were now destroyed, surveyed their respective losses in grief and disbelief. 140 people, both Hindus and Muslims, have been arrested in connection with the riot.

“Muslims attacked my house in retaliation,” said Kanchan Chowdhury, a Hindu victim of the violence. “But they did not do right by attacking us. My family is innocent.”

Meanwhile Zubaida Khatun, 48, a Muslim resident, sifted through the ashes and debris with her bare hands. In the midst of her destroyed home lay the blackened gas cylinder which had been thrown through a hole smashed in her roof.

“Everything is burned and destroyed,” said Khatun, as she desperately searched for the gold jewellery she had bought for her daughter’s wedding using all her savings. “I had saved some cash for the wedding, too. That is burned also, along with all I had in this room. I am ruined.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...nder-cover-of-lockdown-in-a-small-indian-town
 
In Telinipara, West Bengal, Hindu attackers burned Muslim homes and shops and vandalised mosques

Under the cover of lockdown, they came. Armed with petrol bombs, acid bombs, gas cylinders, molotov cocktails and explosives, the men, numbering around 100, piled stealthily into small boats to cross over the Ganges river. Reaching their target, the banks of the small town of Telinipara, they climbed ashore. And then, they pounced.

The violent onslaught that began at midday of 12 May was the pinnacle of the worst outbreak of religious violence in India since the riots that ripped through north-east Delhi in February, killing over 50 people. Over three days in this small town in West Bengal, which, like the rest of India was under a strict nationwide coronavirus lockdown that confined everyone to their homes, Hindu attackers burned and decimated Muslim homes and shops and vandalised two mosques and a Muslim shrine. According to multiple accounts given to the Guardian, the perpetrators also exposed themselves to Muslim women and made rape and death threats as they carried out the brutality. In retaliation, local Muslims then began setting fire to Hindu homes. Of the 55 buildings eventually destroyed, around 45 belonged to Muslims.

“We are ruined, they reduced everything to ashes,” recalled Rubina Khatun, 22, who was with her four-year-old son when her home came under attack on 12 May. “They threw petrol bombs into our room and set it on fire. All nine Muslim houses in our row were attacked and four of them, including ours, were burned or destroyed completely.

Speaking through shuddering sobs, Khatun continued: “The attackers stood on the roof next door and started shouting unthinkably vulgar abuses at me. ‘Are you having sex with your son? He cannot satisfy you. Wait, I am coming to your room …’ one said and then pulled down his shorts. Another shouted, ‘We will rape all the Muslim women here’.”

“Why are the Hindus attacking us so cruelly?” she said. “Do we have no right to live in India just because we are Muslim?”

Since Narendra Modi’s far-right Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) took power in India in 2014, with an agenda to make India a Hindu rather than secular nation, India’s Muslims - who make up 14% of the country – have faced increasing persecution, often state-sponsored. Already socio-economically disadvantaged, Muslims have faced discrimination, boycotts and fatal lynchings and a recent amendment to the citizenship law, introduced in December, ruled that refugees from all religions except Islam could have Indian citizenship.

Modi’s landslide re-election win in May last year marked an escalation in the Hindu nationalist agenda, and with that came more brazenly anti-Muslim rhetoric from BJP leaders and politicians. It was the provocative comments of a BJP leader that are widely acknowledged to have sparked the communal riots in Delhi in February. And as coronavirus began to take hold across India in March, it was the comments of BJP politicians and public figures that helped fuel the widely-adopted conspiracy theory that it was a “Muslim virus” and that Muslims across the country were on a mission of “corona jihad” to infect innocent Hindus.

The scapegoating of Muslims as coronavirus “super-spreaders” was followed by everything from the boycotts of Muslim businesses to refusals by hospitals to take in Muslim patients. But in Telinipara, it manifested as an all-out anti-Muslim riot. This week, the police filed cases against two BJP MPs for their role in triggering the violence.

The trouble began for Telinipara when it emerged that five Muslims had tested positive for coronavirus in early May. Within hours, in many Hindu majority localities of Telinipara, the residents set up blockades on roads and lanes to bar Muslims from entering.

“Muslims were banned from using public toilets and collecting food provisions from ration shops,” said Mohammad Hashim, a local municipality councillor. “In the neighbouring town of Chandannagar, using loudspeakers, some Hindus made public announcements, asking people not to let Muslims from Telinipara enter the area. Hindu youths even threatened to beat up Hindu shopkeepers if they sold anything to Muslims.”

It was also on 10 May that things began to turn violent. The first reported incident was that night when a gang of young Hindu men from the village who, armed with sticks and metal rods, attacked a group of Muslims living in a labourer colony and demanded they leave the colony. In retaliation, local Muslim men began attacking Hindu shops and homes, burning some to the ground.

On 11 May, West Bengal BJP MP Locket Chatterjee spoke to a local TV channel, claiming that Muslims in Telinipara were violently refusing to comply with coronavirus quarantine. “In Telinipara, Muslims have vandalised and set fire to Hindu households,” she said. “Those who attacked the Hindus are all corona positive. They do not want to go on quarantine. They are moving around freely in the Hindu localities. They want to infect all Hindus. Even police have not taken any action against them.”

However police, health officials and those who tested positive have since confirmed to the Guardian that this statement was false and all five reported to the police station as requested and had been peacefully taken to a local quarantine centre.

Another Bengal BJP MP, Arjun Singh, also waded in, posting a photo of one of the Muslim labourers who had been injured in the first attack. But Singh claimed the man was an injured Hindu, beaten by Muslim mobs, and posted on Faceboook: “How long will the blood of Hindus flow on in Bengal … we will not stay quiet if they [Muslims] attack ordinary people. You are playing with fire. Bengal will burn to ashes.”

The next day, on 11 May, Singh posted: “If police and [West Bengal] government are not protecting the Hindus, we will come out and fight to the last drop of our blood, to save our own people.”

Humayun Kabir, local commissioner of police, confirmed that after an enquiry, the police had filed two cases against Singh and one against Chatterjee accusing them of inciting rioting and a cybercrime investigation was being carried out into Singh’s social media posts.

However, Kailash Vijayvargiya, BJP national general secretary, denied the BJP had any involvement in the riots and insisted it was caused by Muslims violating lockdown who “attacked Hindu dominated areas”. He accused police commissioner Kabir of being biased and said he has “instigated crimes against the victims, ie Hindus.”

“Our MPs had been there [in Telinipara] to protect Hindus,” he added. “They were there to stop the riot but have been slapped with riot cases. I demand an enquiry against the accused police officials.”

Yet as Chatterjee and Singh’s words began to be shared widely on social media, it appears that Hindus in the surrounding area began to mobilise. “Go ahead, Arjun Singh. We are with you on your mission,” one comment read. The next day, the armed mob of 100 men boarded boats to Telinipara and launched their attack.

Mohammad Sajid, a 22-year-old Muslim resident of Telinipara who witnessed the men descend, said that most of the Hindu attackers were outsiders, not from the village, and most carried guns with them.

“They were around 100 young men,” said Sajid. “Almost all of them used gamchha [a thin towel] to mask their faces. Some of them carried iron rods, crowbars and hammers. Some carried bombs and Molotov cocktails. As soon as they appeared in the Muslim area they started throwing the bombs and Molotov cocktails targeting the Muslim houses and many Muslims started screaming for help. Most Muslims, including women and children, latched up their front doors from inside and slipped out through their back doors.”

Police allegedly ignored the frantic calls from victims. Sajid added: “The rioters broke open the front doors using heavy tools and entered the houses carrying jerry cans, apparently filled with petrol. Gas cylinders exploded inside most of the houses and within moments they burst aflame.”

In the aftermath of the attack, the Muslim and Hindu communities, many of whom had lived in small shacks which were now destroyed, surveyed their respective losses in grief and disbelief. 140 people, both Hindus and Muslims, have been arrested in connection with the riot.

“Muslims attacked my house in retaliation,” said Kanchan Chowdhury, a Hindu victim of the violence. “But they did not do right by attacking us. My family is innocent.”

Meanwhile Zubaida Khatun, 48, a Muslim resident, sifted through the ashes and debris with her bare hands. In the midst of her destroyed home lay the blackened gas cylinder which had been thrown through a hole smashed in her roof.

“Everything is burned and destroyed,” said Khatun, as she desperately searched for the gold jewellery she had bought for her daughter’s wedding using all her savings. “I had saved some cash for the wedding, too. That is burned also, along with all I had in this room. I am ruined.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...nder-cover-of-lockdown-in-a-small-indian-town

What load of **!!!!

Ofcourse Guardian hired a muslim guy to write the article who unloaded his **.




https://theprint.in/india/bombs-and...ar-police-suspect-instigation/420684/?amp#top


https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/vio...ontainment-zones-2227758?amp=1&akamai-rum=off


This is the truth. And Guardian can keep publishing **, it wont matter, because hardly any Indian is going to read guardians opinion on India and decide. Neither will bengal decide its vote on Guardians opinion.
 
Telangana high court: Why mostly Muslims booked during lockdown?

HYDERABAD: Telangana high court on Wednesday asked Hyderabad police officials why it had booked a disproportionally high number of Muslims for violating lockdown rules. "Does it mean that there are no violators from other communities?" a bench of Chief Justice Raghavendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B Vijaysen Reddy asked while hearing a PIL on alleged police excesses during the national lockdown.

The judges also said, "Look at what is happening in the US where an African-American was killed by the cops and the entire country is now burning." The bench felt that the approach of the police towards minorities was high-handed.

Social activist Sheela Sarah Mathews, who filed the PIL, narrated a series of incidents where the police have been accused of treating Muslims badly which resulted in severe injuries.

Her counsel Dipak Misra cited the case of Junaid, who had to undergo got 35 stitches on his face after cops beat him up. Junaid was supplying food to migrant workers and some cops when he was stopped by a constable.

The bench rejected the police counter saying it did not contain a single statement of the victims.

In another case, Mohammed Asgar, who went to fetch groceries, fell from the top of a building and both his legs were broken. This was because people ran to a nearby under-construction building after police began lathicharge.

"Why are the victims in all these cases are Muslims?" the bench wondered. Asking the DGP to take action, it said: "Deal with delinquent cops in a stern manner and file a fresh affidavit by June 29."

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com...risis-hc-to-hyd-cops/articleshow/76435381.cms
 
Indians who made Covid ‘Muslim virus’ after Tablighi Jamaat are cheering Odisha’s Rath Yatra

On 23 June, visuals of devotees swirling around Odisha’s famous Jagannath Puri temple flooded social media, causing one to momentarily forget that India is still in the thick of the coronavirus pandemic. A day earlier, the Supreme Court, the highest court of the land, gave permission for the annual Rath Yatra in Odisha to be held, but with certain restrictions.

In an earlier decision, the SC had barred the 10-day festival stating that “Lord Jagannath will forgive us” for the decision. But five days later, the SC bench led by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde clearly did not have faith in its earlier pragmatic stance of holding off on the religious congregation at a time when India’s Covid-19 cases are spiking.

The petition against the Rath Yatra taking place this year, filed by Odisha-based NGO Odisha Vikas Parishad (OVP), had cited the example of the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi, which made the news for becoming Delhi’s Covid hotspot and adding to the spurt of cases in the country.

Interestingly, a servitor of the Jagannath Temple has already tested positive for coronavirus. From the looks of footage from Odisha’s Jagannath Rath Yatra, we are probably looking at ‘Tablighi Jamaat 2.0’. But clearly, the media and those who spewed hate against all Muslims oddly don’t care much about the health of those at the temple.

On 30 March this year, at least 200 people from southeast Delhi’s Nizamuddin area were taken for Covid-19 testing after seven people in the area tested positive.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah predicted the impending backlash Muslims would face, and he was, proven right soon after.


Omar Abdullah
✔ [MENTION=504]Omar[/MENTION]Abdullah
Now the #TablighiJamat will become a convenient excuse for some to vilify Muslims everywhere as if we created & spread #COVID around the world.

The Tablighi Jamaat Markaz was soon called the biggest Covid hotspot, not just in India, but in South Asia. Accusations against the non-political global Sunni Islamic missionary organisation flew thick and fast, with abuses targeted directly at the Muslim community.

Muslims in India are a highly fragmented community, made up of various sects and sub-sects, and Tablighi Jamaat represented one small fraction. Yet, Muslims as a whole were vilified for their “irresponsibility” and “dangerous” actions for weeks to come. From being maligned by both Hindi and English news anchors on a daily basis, to propaganda and false rumours about Muslim vegetable vendors spitting on vegetables to intentionally spread Covid-19 — the coronavirus had suddenly become a ‘Muslim virus’.

The most vitriolic statements came from some of the BJP’s top-most spokespersons such as Amit Malviya and Sambit Patra.


Amit Malviya
✔ [MENTION=208]amit[/MENTION]malviya
Delhi’s dark underbelly is exploding! Last 3 months have seen an Islamic insurrection of sorts, first in the name of anti-CAA protests from Shaheen Bagh to Jamia, Jaffrabad to Seelampur. And now the illegal gathering of the radical Tablighi Jamaat at the markaz. It needs a fix!


Sambit Patra

@sambitswaraj
66 positive ...this #TablighiJamaat has single handedly damaged India as none other ..should never ever ..NEVER EVER be pardoned !! https://twitter.com/TimesNow/status/1247917209730445313


TIMES NOW
✔ [MENTION=55897]Times[/MENTION]Now
#Breaking | 66 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying in Dwarka quarantine facility have been tested positive for Coronavirus. | #LockdownCoronavirus

It wasn’t much of a surprise that Tablighi Jamaat came under the scanner more because it is associated with Islam. In fact, it even managed to eclipse the fact that the day after the nationwide lockdown was announced, UP CM Yogi Adityanath violated the lockdown to attend a Ram Navami event in Ayodhya. But the Right-wing was quick to defend Adityanath’s actions.


PAYAL ROHATGI & Team- Bhagwan Ram Bhakts

@Payal_Rohatgi
Ram Ram ji &#55357;&#56911; The religious gathering in Ayodhya should have been avoided after [MENTION=140582]Naren[/MENTION]dramodi ji announced #lockdownindia but unfortunately Bhagwan Ram followers were NOT foreign travellers who were INTENTIONALLY spreading #ChineseVirus19 like #TablighiJamaat followers did &#55357;&#56911; https://twitter.com/alok_pandey/status/1242679820128940032

Alok Pandey

@alok_pandey
Hours after a total lock down was announced by [MENTION=140582]Naren[/MENTION]dramodi with no religious exemptions , @myogiadityanath , surrounded by atleast 20 people , in ayodhya this morning , made this appeal for everyone to ‘follow lock down boundaries’ !! UP is a parallel universe !

BJP support for Jagannath Yatra

The BJP-led Centre took the initiative to restore the festivities at Odisha. Home Minister Amit Shah took to Twitter to express his delight over the Supreme Court’s decision to reverse its earlier order, and allow for Odisha’s festivities to continue. Calling the decision about the Rath Yatra a matter of great “urgency”, he wrote that it was put urgently before a bench of the Supreme Court.

The same Supreme Court, which couldn’t do much for India’s migrant workers during the lockdown, showed utmost swiftness in this decision.


Amit Shah
✔ [MENTION=208]amit[/MENTION]Shah
Today is a special day for all of us, particularly our Odia sisters and brothers as well as devotees of Mahaprabhu Shri Jagannath Ji. The entire nation is delighted by the decision of the Honourable Supreme Court to ensure the Rath Yatra goes on.

जय जगन्नाथ!


Ironically, guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on 30 May forbade such large gatherings.

But touting it as a victory for the people of Odisha, not an impending disaster during a pandemic, other top BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, joined in with hearty congratulations.


Narendra Modi
✔ [MENTION=140582]Naren[/MENTION]dramodi
भगवान जगन्नाथ की रथ यात्रा के पावन-पुनीत अवसर पर आप सभी को मेरी हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। मेरी कामना है कि श्रद्धा और भक्ति से भरी यह यात्रा देशवासियों के जीवन में सुख, समृद्धि, सौभाग्य और आरोग्य लेकर आए। जय जगन्नाथ!


Vasundhara Raje

@VasundharaBJP
देश में सौहार्द, भाईचारे एवं एकता के प्रतीक भगवान जगन्नाथ रथ यात्रा महोत्सव की सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक बधाई एवं मंगलकामनाएं। इस अवसर पर मैं महाप्रभु से सभी नागरिकों की सुख-समृद्धि एवं खुशहाली की प्रार्थना करती हूं।
।।जय जगन्नाथ।।


Smriti Z Irani
✔ [MENTION=19124]Smriti[/MENTION]irani
समस्त देशवासियों को महाप्रभु श्री जगन्नाथ जी की रथयात्रा की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं।

भगवान जगन्नाथ जी की कृपादृष्टि हम सभी पर बनी रहे।

What restrictions? God will save us all

One wonders what kind of ‘restrictions’ the Supreme Court imposed in its order, because one look at the celebrations was evidence enough that no social distancing or safety guidelines were followed.


ANI

@ANI
#WATCH Idol of Lord Jagannath being brought to the chariot by priests and 'sevayats' for the Rath Yatra from Jagannath Temple in Puri#Odisha
Embedded video


People have gathered in large numbers for the start of the festivities, including BJP’s Sambit Patra. Yes, the same Sambit Patra who cried foul almost every day while the members of Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat were being looked for, landed in Puri to seek blessings from Lord Jagannath. It is worthy to note that he is a doctor, but did not bother to follow any social-distancing norms.


Sambit Patra

@sambitswaraj
मैंने संकल्प लिया था अगर SC से राहत मिला तो मैं पूरी धाम जाऊँगा।
संकल्प अनुसार आज मैंने “दीपदान” कर प्रधानमंत्री श्री [MENTION=140582]Naren[/MENTION]dramodi जी एवं श्री [MENTION=208]amit[/MENTION]Shah ji को धन्यवाद अर्पण किया।
रथ को नमन कर अब मै दिल्ली वापस आ रहा हूँ ..सभी पूरीवसियों से अपील TV के माध्यम से प्रभु दर्शन करें&#55357;&#56911;
View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter


Our outrage at the Tablighi Jamaat gathering has now been eclipsed by the total lack of criticism of the Rath Yatra at Puri and the threat it poses to India’s Covid cases. The BJP’s visible and vocal support for the Hindu festival in Odisha almost seems as political as its denouncement of the Tablighi Jamaat.

While the Nizamuddin gathering was by no means justified, it took place when the cases were still trickling — India currently has more than 4 lakh cases. If the Rath Yatra ends up being a hotspot, will the Supreme Court take responsibility for it?

No divine intervention can help it then.
 
rath.jpg

See the kind of 'social distancing' being practised in Puri. This comes at a time when we are adding at least 15K covid patients daily to our tally.
 
All the Sanghi bigots have sent their best wishes for Rath Yatra despite them occupying high chairs and should've been neutral in handling a religious issue.
 
BBC article - based on fake news in India - regarding corona virus - Indians targeting mainly Muslims worth a read:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-53165436

UR496de.png
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">While Twit*ter has sus*pended Mr. Hegde’s ac*count as a re*sult of such posts, Face*book took no ac*tion un*til the <a href="https://twitter.com/WSJ?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WSJ</a> sought com*ment from the com*pany about his “Corona Ji*had” posts. Face*book re*moved some of them on Thurs*day. <a href="https://t.co/sqJwLPzjaM">pic.twitter.com/sqJwLPzjaM</a></p>— Newley Purnell (@newley) <a href="https://twitter.com/newley/status/1294324209880051712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4-S34vQExSo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Apparently Indian law enforcement is a little upset about our report on anti-Muslim violence and COVID-related misinformation in India. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sorrynotsorry?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sorrynotsorry</a> <a href="https://t.co/2k1j9f7ig4">https://t.co/2k1j9f7ig4</a> <a href="https://t.co/uiMq2vTggo">pic.twitter.com/uiMq2vTggo</a></p>— Amarnath Amarasingam (@AmarAmarasingam) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmarAmarasingam/status/1309202783481012257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID19?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#COVID19</a> was used by the Indian News Channels to communalise and scapegoat Muslim community. <br><br>It's time that advertisers refuse to fund news channels with toxic content.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopFundingHate?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#StopFundingHate</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/amazonIN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@amazonIN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Toyota?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Toyota</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Maruti_Corp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Maruti_Corp</a><br><br> <a href="https://t.co/i2z0dgNKct">pic.twitter.com/i2z0dgNKct</a><br><br> <a href="https://t.co/i2z0dgNKct">https://t.co/i2z0dgNKct</a></p>— IndianAmericanMuslimCouncil (@IAMCouncil) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAMCouncil/status/1320071917555109889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
Delhi Police To Hand Over Nizamuddin Markaz Keys To Islamic Sect Chief

New Delhi:

The city police on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it has no objection in handing over the keys of the Nizamuddin Markaz, which was closed in March 2020 for holding a Tabliqhi Jamaat congregation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to jamaat leader Maulana Saad.

The Delhi Police's counsel contended that it has not been provided with the documents as to who is the actual owner of the Nizamuddin Banglewali Masjid and it can hand over the keys only to the person from whom they had taken possession, who is Maulana Muhammad Saad.

While police claimed before the court that Mr Saad is missing, a member of the managing committee of the markaz claimed that he was very much there on its premises and can appear before the agency to get the keys.

During the hearing, Justice Jasmeet Singh said, "You (police) have taken the possession from some person. You return the possession to that person. I am not adjudicating an FIR for title of property here that is not the issue before me. You find out what you have to do but give the keys. You cannot keep it with you."

The high court was hearing a petition by the Delhi Waqf Board seeking a direction to reopen the Nizamuddin Markaz, comprising the masjid, the Madarsa Kashif-ul-Uloom, and a hostel, following its closure after the onset of the pandemic.

In May, the high court passed an interim order allowing the reopening of certain areas of the Markaz that were closed following the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

The central government, in its affidavit, had opposed the reopening of the premises completely.

Earlier this month, police filed an application for a direction to the Delhi Waqf Board to produce documents related to the ownership of Nizamuddin Banglewali Masjid.

Lawyer Rajat Nair, representing the Delhi Police and the Centre, argued that the original possessor has not come forward to take control of the property and under the Delhi Waqf Act, the 'mutawali' has to come forward and not the Delhi Waqf Board, which is the petitioner here.

He said if the original person is before the high court, the keys can be returned to him but he is not here.

Senior advocate Sanjoy Ghose, appearing for the petitioner board, said the waqf property belongs to the almighty and they are only the custodians of it. He said they can give the keys to the managing committee.

The high court, which said it was not going into the issue of the title of the property, asked the police, "Are you in possession? In what capacity have you taken possession? The FIR was registered under the Epidemic Diseases Act…that is over now."

"If you take a property under the Epidemic Diseases Act and register an FIR, then whosoever was in possession at that point of time, would have to file a suit for possession?" the judge asked.

When the police's counsel said the possession was taken from Mr Saad, the high court asked where he was and why cannot he go and take the keys.

To this, the counsel for the managing committee said Mr Saad was in the markaz and that he can go and take the keys from the police.

The court, in its order, noted, "The counsel for the respondent (police) states that the respondent will have no objection in handing over keys to Maulana Saad on furnishing an indemnity bond in the form as required by them."

It also said no documents would be required to be submitted for this purpose. "In view of the above, the petitioner does not wish to prosecute the petition further. The writ petition is disposed of," the court said.

The police, in its application, said the petition was filed by the waqf board claiming possession of the property in its capacity as the custodian but "no supporting document has been filed by the petitioner to claim locus or that the property is a waqf property".

It said before the petition is disposed of, it is just and necessary that the rightful owner or possessor of the "alleged waqf property" is brought on record so that suitable orders may be passed with respect to its maintainability.

Several FIRs were registered under the Epidemic Diseases Act, the Disaster Management Act, the Foreigners Act and various provisions of the penal code in connection with the Tablighi Jamaat event held at the markaz and the subsequent stay of foreigners there during the pandemic-induced lockdown in 2020.

The Delhi Waqf Board had moved the court last year seeking directions to reopen the premises on the ground that even after 'Unlock-1' pandemic guidelines permitted religious places outside containment zones to be opened, the markaz continues to be locked.

In its affidavit affirmed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, the Centre had told the court it was "necessary and incumbent" to preserve the markaz property as the investigation in the case registered for violation of the COVID-19 protocols has "cross borders implications and involves nation's diplomatic relationship with other countries".

The waqf board, represented by lawyer Wajeeh Shafiq, had earlier argued that the mosque, which was under the lock of the Delhi Police, should be opened as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has now lifted all restrictions that were imposed on account of the pandemic.

The Delhi Police's crime branch had in March 2020 lodged an FIR against seven persons, including the cleric, on a complaint by Nizamuddin station house officer here for holding a congregation of Tablighi Jamaat followers in alleged violation of the orders against large gatherings to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The Enforcement Directorate has also filed a money laundering case against Saad, trusts linked to the Jamaat, and others.

NDTV
 
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