In India, Tablighi Jamaat says it is being targeted for coronavirus spread
- The Muslim missionary group’s New Delhi chief has been charged with culpable homicide for a religious event that fuelled a surge in cases
- Experts have cautioned that Muslims around the country are being ostracised following the action taken against Tablighi Jamaat
Twenty-four people who attended a Tablighi Jamaat gathering in New Delhi from March 13-15 tested positive for the coronavirus on March 31. The city’s authorities on Wednesday said 1,080 of the 1,561 cases in New Delhi were linked to the gathering, while more than 25,500 people connected to it have been quarantined.
Soon after the cases were reported, the group’s international headquarters in Delhi’s mostly Muslim Nizamuddin area was sealed. Thousands of followers – including some from Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh – were taken into quarantine by police after it emerged they had attended meetings there in mid-March.
Anil Mittal, a spokesman for the Delhi Police, confirmed charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder would be laid under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, saying: “Investigation is on and arrest will happen.”
Another senior Delhi police official, speaking anonymously, said those charges were added to the initial brief after the deaths of some members of Tablighi Jamaat.