It has been proven beyond doubts that the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in Delhi Nizammudin has put back India’s effort to battle the coronavirus scourge. The Tablighi Jamaat event defied lockdown orders in Delhi as over 3400 people gathered in the Nizamuddin Markaz building ignoring social distancing norms. Since news of the Jamaat congregation, being a coronavirus cluster broke, police have been regularly rounding up Muslims who are still breaching the lockdown by congregating and hiding in various mosques and madrasas in different parts of the country.
India Today journalist Rahul Kanwal hosted an investigative show on how Madarsa’s in India has emerged as the Coronavirus hotspot. Sharing the advertisement of his upcoming show earlier in the day, Rahul Kanwal took to Twitter Friday to say: “India Today TV reality check finds Madrasas in the capital violating national lockdown rules. Kids crammed into small rooms. No social distancing norms followed. Teacher boasts he’s hiding kids from the police. Another claims he’s paid off local police”.
An @IndiaToday reality check finds Madrasas in the capital violating national lockdown rules. Kids crammed into small rooms. No social distancing norms followed. Teacher boasts he’s hiding kids from the police. Another claims he’s paid off local police. Watch 8 pm @IndiaToday pic.twitter.com/MUHiOBv4Rn
— Rahul Kanwal (@rahulkanwal) April 10, 2020
The show reported how various madarsa’s operators are hiding the headcount of children at a time when social distancing has been deemed as the only way to tackle the coronavirus outbreak in India.
This show has not been received well by the communists on Twitter. Communist leader, Kavita Krishnan was particularly irked by Rahul Kanwal for hosting the show which pointed out how:
- Many madarsa operators are hiding the total number of children.
- Some madarsa heads said police have no idea while others claim to have bribed them.
- Children in these madarsas are not following any social distancing norms
Kavita Krishnan took to twitter and posted a video message, where she lashed out at the India Today journalist Saturday calling his journalism worthy of the dustbin, hours even before the show was aired. Reacting to the promo of the show, she said: “This is a message especially for Rahul Kanwal and India Today who are doing a story at 8 tonight on Madarsa Hotspots. This is during a pandemic. This is during an immense human tragedy that we are witnessing today in the world and in India and here is a man calling himself an Indian journalist. This is not journalism. Behind that nice, smooth face that you are in the same category as the Zee News’ and the Republic TVs of the world and that is where you belong. You belong in the dustbin of journalism. This is not journalism, this is hate-mongering. You are a hate monger and history will remember you, history will judge you and will judge each of your colleagues who remain silent”.
She said that it is absolutely shameful to divide the victims of COVID-19 based on religion. She added that why did the Indian government not alert the people about the pandemic. “Instead of asking the government, you are busy grinding your communal acts. Shame on you,” said the communist leader.
Had to do this @IndiaToday@sardesairajdeep.
— Kavita Krishnan (@kavita_krishnan) April 11, 2020
Here is an open video message (in Hindi, and then in English in the next tweet) on Rahul Kanwal’s poison
राहुल कंवल जैसे चिकने चुपडे चहरे वाले नफ़रतकारों के नाम खुला वीडियो पत्र. इस ट्वीट में हिंदी में, अगले में अंग्रेजी में pic.twitter.com/4kOukEnn0w
Taking a cue from Kavita Krishnan, IndiaSpend.com editor, Samar Halarnkar also called out the India Today journalist. He also did this without watching the show, as it was yet to be broadcast.
The state of Indian journalism and India pic.twitter.com/WBQlSVBbpA
— Samar Halarnkar (@samar11) April 11, 2020
Journalist-cum-troll Vidya Krishnan, who is on the forefront of spreading misinformation on India’s fight against coronavirus, alleged that such programs will lead to stigmatization of the community of COVID19 patients.
The Nizamuddin Markaz of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi has been the epicentre of the spread of Wuhan Coronavirus all across India. The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all guidelines and orders. Subsequently, numerous people across numerous states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus. Dozens of incidents of people who have attended the Tablighi Jamaat hiding in mosques and madrasas have emerged, and many of them have tested positive for coronavirus.
