Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad releases another audio, asks followers to remain at home
Days after Nizamuddin in Delhi came to be identified as the hotspot for coronavirus, Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad has released yet another audio, which has now gone viral. In the new audio message, Maulana Saad is heard giving out the message of isolation, as he advises all to remain at home and follow government orders. Saad said he himself is in self-quarantine. In the audio, Saad said, "I am in self-quarantine in Delhi as advised by the doctors and appeal to all Jamaat wherever they are in the country to follow the directives of the law ."
He said that it is advised to remain indoors and adhere to the directives of the government and not to assemble anywhere. He said that "the pandemic is due to sins of a human being committed by them."
After the audio was released, India TV Editor-In-Chief and Chairman Rajat Sharma took to Twitter and said, "Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad's audio appeal to his followers is better late than never."
On Tuesday, the Delhi Police had booked the cleric for violating lockdown orders and holding a huge religious gathering in Nizamuddin West earlier this month.
"Our officers including the Station House Officer of Nizamuddin police station had repeatedly requested Maulana Sahab to disperse the crowd which has assembled in the six-storey mosque building of the Markaz...but he did not budge. It's unfortunate that all talks failed to convince him," said an IPS officer of Delhi Police.
Saad is "untraceable" since March 28 after Delhi Police served notice even as Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukthar Abbas Naqvi described the Islamic missionary movement's actions a "Talibani crime".
Caught in the eye of a storm over sheltering more than 2,000 religious followers in a Delhi mosque during the COVID-19 lockdown, the Amir (chief) of Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Saad Khandhlawi has been a controversial Muslim cleric for years.
Meanwhile, the Markaz was evacuated on Wednesday.
After the evacuation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said "After 36 hours of operation with the help of medical staff, DTC till 4 a.m. whole building has been emptied. A total of 2,361 persons were found out of which 617 have been admitted to the hospitals, and the rest of them have been quarantined."
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