Tamil Nadu govt chooses appeasement over facts: Govt briefs will not refer to Nizamuddin Markaz while FIR has been lodged for explaining Tablighi Jamaat activities

Tamil Nadu has been the most affected state due to the Nizamuddin Markaz . The state government instead of taking stern action against the Nizamuddin Markaz participants over their hiding and non-cooperation which is threatening lives of citizens of the state, has now chosen to obfuscate from the issue by not mentioning the Nizamuddin or Tablighi Jamaat Markaz event in their media briefs about COVID19 positive patients in the state.

The decision in order to placate the Muslims of the state was revealed by Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh yesterday who said that it was decided so that the pandemic is not ‘communalised’. The government reports which earlier mentioned the Nizamuddin Markaz as the source of the infection, now mention the same as ‘single source event’.

With 92 per cent (570) of the total 621 COVID19 positive cases in Tamil Nadu having been traced to the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Nizamuddin in Delhi, the state stands as the most affected due to the Tablighi Jamaat circus. More than 2/3rd of the cases in the entire country added in the last week have also been traced to the Nizamuddin Markaz. The Markaz attendees continue to hide in various mosques and many are yet to come out and declare their participation and submit to tests and quarantine. Yet, politicians and parties are trying to shield the Tablighi Jamaat instead of questioning its non-cooperation.

Just in a day, there have been 50 new COVID19 positive cases in Tamil Nadu out of which 48 have been from Tablighi Jamaat. This decision of the state government to not mention Tablighi Jamaat is seen as a appeasement of the community instead of naming and seeking their co-operation.

FIR Against vlogger Maridhas

In another instance of minority appeasement in the state, there have been attempts to silence popular nationalist vlogger Maridhas from speaking against the Tablighi Jamaat. Tamil Nadu Police has filed a FIR against Maridhas for merely explaining the dangers of the spread of COVID19 caused by the Tablighi Jamaat congregations held in Nizamuddin last month in his video blog.

The FIR was filed following a complaint lodged by Mohammad Khader Meeran, a member of rabid Islamic outfit Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK). Maridhas runs the popular YouTube channel ‘Maridhas Answers’ which analysis events and happenings in the state and the country. The move to file and FIR to an explanatory video is seen as a move by the ruling AIADMK government to further appease the Muslims of the state. Maridhas has been a target of DMK, Dravidian Chauvinists and Islamists on several earlier occasions too.

It can be recalled that several Muslim outfits including TMMK continued to hold anti-CAA/NRC demonstrations at several places in Tamil Nadu even after the lockdown was announced on March 24th. It is also alleged that many participants of the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz are still hiding in various mosques in the state and have not submitted themselves for COVID19 tests. There have been several instances in Tamil Nadu too where Muslim residents have not co-operated with doctors and paramedical staff in testing for COVID19 and in implementing quarantine rules.