Cabinet secy tells states to trace Jamaat attendees on ‘war footing’
AT THE MEETING, GAUBA ASKED STATE POLICE FORCES TO TAKE ACTION AGAINST FOREIGNERS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CONGREGATION AND ORGANIZERS OF THE EVENT FOR VIOLATING VISA CONDITIONS
NEWDELHI:Cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba on Wednesday directed all state governments to go on a “war footing” to trace all people who came in contact with participants in the Tablighi Jamaat’s congregation last month in New Delhi’s Nizamuddin, which has become the country’s biggest coronavirus disease (Covid-19) hot spot.
Gauba informed all state chief secretaries and director generals of police in a video-conference that unfettered travel of Tablighi Jamaat followers to various parts of India after the congregation has put at risk the government’s efforts to contain the virus.
At the meeting, the central government’s top civil servant also asked state police forces to take action against foreigners who participated in the congregation and organizers of the event for violating visa conditions. Many of the foreign participants came into India on a tourist visa, while they should have come in on a religious missionary visa.
Gauba’s directive comes as the Centre strives to ensure the success of the three-week lockdown of India aimed at breaking the chain of transmission of the rapidly spreading virus. The effort is to trace and isolate the people who may have come in contact with the thousands of Jamaat followers who attended the congregation and then fanned out across the country.
According to estimates by Delhi Police and the Intelligence Bureau, around 6,500 to 7,000 people, including at least over 300 foreigners, attended the congregation in rotation at Markaz Nizamuddin, the headquarters of the Islamic missionary organisation, starting on March 10, an official who didn’t wish to be named said. The main event concluded on March 15, but followers of the sect came calling at the headquarters until March 23.
The ministry of home affairs, after initial cases of Covid-19 from among the congregants were recorded, issued an advisory to the states on March 28 in which it mentioned that an estimated 2,000 foreigners from 70 countries, who came to India on tourist visas, spread out across India for the Tablighi Jamaat’s religious work over five-six weeks.
Central agencies are now tracing how many more among these 2,000 foreigners came to Delhi or travelled to different states.
Gauba also asked the states to implement the Prime Minister’s Garib Kalyan Yojana,aimed at providing benefits to the poor for loss of work because of the national lockdown, within a week.
“This will involve large cash transfer to beneficiaries. It should be organized in a staggered manner to ensure social distance,” said a statement from Press Information Bureau (PIB).