Coronavirus Outbreak: Pakistan places Raiwind city under complete lockdown after 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers test positive
Coronavirus Outbreak: Pakistan places Raiwind city under complete lockdown after 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers test positive
Press Trust of India Apr 02, 2020 15:55 PM IST
Lahore: Pakistan authorities have placed the entire city of Raiwind under quarantine, shutting down all general and medical stores, and completely restricted the mobility of people within or outside the city after at least 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers tested positive, officials said on Thursday.
Similarly, some 50 members of the Jamaat, including five Nigerian women, suspected to be carriers of coronavirus, are admitted to a quarantine centre in Kasur, some 50 km from Lahore.
In Hyderabad city of Sindh province, 38 coronavirus cases of local transmission among members of the Tablighi Jamaat were reported on Thursday.
There are reports that the Sindh and Punjab police have picked some members of the Jamaat from the mosques and its Raiwind Markaz (headquarters of the Pakistani faction of Jamaat) and locked up in the police stations in connection with violation of the lockdown.
Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak here
Coronavirus Outbreak: Pakistan places Raiwind city under complete lockdown after 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers test positive
Atleast 6,00 people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi were identified. PTI
According to the government, in March the Tablighi Jamaat went ahead with its annual congregation in Raiwind, Lahore against its advice that the gathering might spread the virus.
Pakistani authorities had urged the cancellation of the five-day Tablighi congregation, which was attended by thousands of people from several countries.
"The government's apprehensions stood true as several Tablighi Jamaat activists have tested positive for coronavirus and they caused spread of it,î Lahore Deputy Commissioner Danish Afzaal said in a statement.
He said the Raiwind Tablighi Jamaat Markez is presently housing approximately 600 preachers.
"The health teams have so far sent samples of around 110 of them for lab analysis and of them, 41 preachers have been tested positive for
COVID-19," he said, adding the Jamaat preachers have been quarantined in mosques and their centres in different districts.
"The mobility of people within or outside Raiwind town has completely been restricted through the deployment of police and personnel of security agencies," he said.
Tablighi Jamaat members have emerged as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers, not just in Pakistan but in India, Malaysia and Brunei.
In India, the Jamaat has come under severe criticism for defying the lockdown and organising a congregation. Fifty-three people who took part in the Jamaat congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month have tested positive for coronavirus till now.
In Middle East, Gaza's first two confirmed coronavirus patients had also attended the Jamaat congregation in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the COVID-19 patients number spiked to 2,250 with 32 deaths till Thursday afternoon. Punjab has most 845 cases followed by Sindh 709.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a coalition partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, and opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have lent its support to the Tablighi Jamaat condemning the government action against it and demanded respect for its members.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez Elahi said propaganda against Jamaat should be stopped forthwith. 'It is such a Jamaat whose Tabligh (preaching) has not caused chaos anywhere ever. Its members are recognised as ambassadors of peace."
Elahi said those members of the Jamaat who had been picked from the mosques and locked up in the police stations should immediately be released and shifted to the mosques or Tablighi centres and these mosques and centres be quarantined and ration and facilities should be arranged for them.
PML-N president and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly has also condemned police action against Jamaat members. ìThe Tableeghi Jamaat members should be given respect,î he demanded.
Updated Date: Apr 02, 2020 15:55:24 IST
Tags : Coronavirus, Coronavirus Deaths, Coronavirus Deaths In Pakistan, Coronavirus In Pakistan, Coronavirus Outbreak, Coronavirus Outbreak In India, Lahore, NewsTracker, Pakistan, Raiwind City, Raiwind City Lockdown, Raiwind Markaz, Tablighi Jamaat
Like India, Pakistan has a Tablighi Jamaat Covid-19 problem too. But blame Imran Khan as well
In Pakistan, Tablighi Jamaat is viewed as benign. Militant groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed do not like them because Tablighis don’t encourage jihad.
AYESHA SIDDIQA 3 April, 2020 10:05 am IST
File photo | Raiwind Tablighi Markaz, Pakistan | Raiwind-Tableegi-Markaz/Facebook
File photo | Raiwind Tablighi Markaz, Pakistan | Raiwind-Tableegi-Markaz/Facebook
Text Size: A- A+
India and Pakistan seem to be on the same page as far as the Tablighi Jamaat congregation is concerned. Like in India, after the Nizamuddin Markaz congregation, in Pakistan also, the group is considered as one of the two major sources of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Many of the 2,000 people that attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi went back to different parts of the country. The Indian government now says that they are spreading the coronavirus in India.
As many as 250,000 people gathered in Pakistan’s Punjab, mid-March to participate in the annual five-day event or Tablighi ijtima. This is where people, mainly subscribing to the Deobandi sect get together to pray and obtain further training in proselytising. Pakistan is predominantly Barelvi. But the Tablighi Jamaat, which was formed in India in 1926, and its congregations are very popular and powerful for two reasons. First, theoretically, it cuts across sects and thus attracts people from all ideological schools, particularly the Barelvis who have no powerful religious forum of their own. Although Maulana Tahir-ul-Qadri’s Minhajul Quran, or politically, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan are Barelvi organisations, the Tablighi Jamaat continues to attract Muslims across the board. Even Nawaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab and later as prime minister supported their gatherings. This is because they are generally viewed as benign.
Second, because of its focus primarily on proselytising, it is popular across the socio-economic classes. From powerful institutions of the state and prominent politicians to the middle and lower middle classes, people are attracted to it for its religious teachings.
Also read: One in India’s five Covid-19 patients is linked to Tablighi Jamaat and its Delhi event
Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan
Although it is accused of links with extremist institutions, in Pakistan’s case, militant organisations such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed do not like the Tablighi Jamaat. This is mainly because Jaish-e-Mohammed has an aversion to any institution that does not encourage jihad. However, it is also a fact that a lot of jihadis from the Deobandi sect were initially inspired to join militant organisations because of the introduction to religion by the Tablighi Jamaat.
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that the son of (late) Lt General Hameed Gul, known for his contacts with jihadis in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Abdullah Gul was sharp in criticising the media for blaming the Tablighi Jamaat as one of the major sources of coronavirus infection in Pakistan. He said, “Media is constantly spewing venom against Tablighi Jamaat, which is hurting sentiments of millions of people…all those religion-weary news anchors, producers, and all news directors should be fined heavily for such irresponsible behaviour.”
His gripe was that it was the Shia devotees who were responsible for most of the infection.
The problem lies in the structure of the Tablighi Jamaat forum that is based on gathering people from within the country and around the world. Even before the annual get-together in Raiwind, Lahore, teams of proselytisers are dispatched all over the world and inside the country. As per the Tablighi Jamaat system, every team stays in a mosque in the areas they travel to and conduct proselytising activities from there. These tours take place throughout the year. But the annual gathering happens in Lahore.
Also read: Tablighi Jamaat tells its followers not to pursue political dominance in this world
Lockdown still a bad idea?
But does one blame the Tablighi Jamaat for this faux pas or the Punjab government, which was extremely slow in responding to the crisis? The federal government did not behave very differently from its counterparts around the world who took so long in responding to the threat. There still continues to be confusion regarding the lockdown as Prime Minister Imran Khan insists that it is a bad idea.
The Punjab government was neither forceful nor clear in its instructions. This lax attitude was one of the reasons why, as sources said, the Tablighi Jamaat management instructed those of its teams that were yet to finish their tour of duty (the source I spoke to had completed his and had spent four months in the field – from December to March) to go to other places around the country and finish their work.
The Tablighi Jamaat members I spoke with boasted about how well they were organised in Raiwind. After the orders to close shops, there was a separate Tablighi Jamaat office to guide each group on their future course of action. This meant that many of those, who were already exposed to members from countries affected by Covid-19 such as China, Iran, the UK, the US, Spain and others, then moved to other parts in Pakistan carrying the virus with them.
In Sindh, the inspector-general of police Mushtaq Mehr announced a quarantine of all Tablighi Jamaat returnees in his province, especially those sitting in mosques. They would be provided with food and other rations with instructions to the police to ensure that no other person came in contact with them. This meant an end to all preaching activities. This was deemed important after over 130 cases tested positive in the city of Hyderabad. Punjab or Islamabad, on the other hand, have not taken any similar action. While the neighbourhood of Bara Kahu in Islamabad is strictly quarantined as some returning Tablighi Jamaat members tested positive, many of the mosques in smaller towns and rural areas of Punjab with Tablighi Jamaat members sitting inside are reportedly still in action.
Also read: Coronavirus was a test of secular nationalism. Then Tablighi Jamaat became the scapegoat
The bigger culprit
In many ways, Islamabad and its satellite government in Lahore are even bigger culprits than the Tablighi Jamaat. While Imran Khan remains totally engrossed in his electoral mode by pretending not to hurt sentiments of the religious Right, it is important for him to realise that what he and the world face is an unprecedented turn of events. Religion, though important, cannot be left on its own without any rational guidance. After all, both Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two central hubs of Islamic faith – have ventured to rationalise. Iran stopped Friday prayer gatherings and Saudi Arabia has sealed mosques and even put pilgrimages on hold.
What is required is a firmer but well-thought-out plan of action, especially in Pakistan and India where religion is not simply about faith or culture but is also central to politics and identity of people. Convincing one segment of population becomes tough, especially if the government is seen as partisan.
Closing down Tablighi Jamaat spaces in India, in particular, would require applying rationality to all. Apparently, days after the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin, there was a large get together at the Shirdi Saibaba temple in Maharashtra. It is the application of greater scientific methodology that will help in survival against this present and clear danger.
The author is research associate at SOAS, London and author of Military Inc. She tweets: @iamthedrifter. Views are personal.
Press Trust of India Apr 02, 2020 15:55 PM IST
Lahore: Pakistan authorities have placed the entire city of Raiwind under quarantine, shutting down all general and medical stores, and completely restricted the mobility of people within or outside the city after at least 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers tested positive, officials said on Thursday.
Similarly, some 50 members of the Jamaat, including five Nigerian women, suspected to be carriers of coronavirus, are admitted to a quarantine centre in Kasur, some 50 km from Lahore.
In Hyderabad city of Sindh province, 38 coronavirus cases of local transmission among members of the Tablighi Jamaat were reported on Thursday.
There are reports that the Sindh and Punjab police have picked some members of the Jamaat from the mosques and its Raiwind Markaz (headquarters of the Pakistani faction of Jamaat) and locked up in the police stations in connection with violation of the lockdown.
Follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak here
Coronavirus Outbreak: Pakistan places Raiwind city under complete lockdown after 40 Tablighi Jamaat preachers test positive
Atleast 6,00 people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi were identified. PTI
According to the government, in March the Tablighi Jamaat went ahead with its annual congregation in Raiwind, Lahore against its advice that the gathering might spread the virus.
Pakistani authorities had urged the cancellation of the five-day Tablighi congregation, which was attended by thousands of people from several countries.
"The government's apprehensions stood true as several Tablighi Jamaat activists have tested positive for coronavirus and they caused spread of it,î Lahore Deputy Commissioner Danish Afzaal said in a statement.
He said the Raiwind Tablighi Jamaat Markez is presently housing approximately 600 preachers.
"The health teams have so far sent samples of around 110 of them for lab analysis and of them, 41 preachers have been tested positive for
COVID-19," he said, adding the Jamaat preachers have been quarantined in mosques and their centres in different districts.
"The mobility of people within or outside Raiwind town has completely been restricted through the deployment of police and personnel of security agencies," he said.
Tablighi Jamaat members have emerged as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers, not just in Pakistan but in India, Malaysia and Brunei.
In India, the Jamaat has come under severe criticism for defying the lockdown and organising a congregation. Fifty-three people who took part in the Jamaat congregation in south Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz last month have tested positive for coronavirus till now.
In Middle East, Gaza's first two confirmed coronavirus patients had also attended the Jamaat congregation in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the COVID-19 patients number spiked to 2,250 with 32 deaths till Thursday afternoon. Punjab has most 845 cases followed by Sindh 709.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, a coalition partner of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government, and opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz have lent its support to the Tablighi Jamaat condemning the government action against it and demanded respect for its members.
Punjab Assembly Speaker Parvez Elahi said propaganda against Jamaat should be stopped forthwith. 'It is such a Jamaat whose Tabligh (preaching) has not caused chaos anywhere ever. Its members are recognised as ambassadors of peace."
Elahi said those members of the Jamaat who had been picked from the mosques and locked up in the police stations should immediately be released and shifted to the mosques or Tablighi centres and these mosques and centres be quarantined and ration and facilities should be arranged for them.
PML-N president and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly has also condemned police action against Jamaat members. ìThe Tableeghi Jamaat members should be given respect,î he demanded.
Updated Date: Apr 02, 2020 15:55:24 IST
Tags : Coronavirus, Coronavirus Deaths, Coronavirus Deaths In Pakistan, Coronavirus In Pakistan, Coronavirus Outbreak, Coronavirus Outbreak In India, Lahore, NewsTracker, Pakistan, Raiwind City, Raiwind City Lockdown, Raiwind Markaz, Tablighi Jamaat
Like India, Pakistan has a Tablighi Jamaat Covid-19 problem too. But blame Imran Khan as well
In Pakistan, Tablighi Jamaat is viewed as benign. Militant groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed do not like them because Tablighis don’t encourage jihad.
AYESHA SIDDIQA 3 April, 2020 10:05 am IST
File photo | Raiwind Tablighi Markaz, Pakistan | Raiwind-Tableegi-Markaz/Facebook
File photo | Raiwind Tablighi Markaz, Pakistan | Raiwind-Tableegi-Markaz/Facebook
Text Size: A- A+
India and Pakistan seem to be on the same page as far as the Tablighi Jamaat congregation is concerned. Like in India, after the Nizamuddin Markaz congregation, in Pakistan also, the group is considered as one of the two major sources of the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Many of the 2,000 people that attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi went back to different parts of the country. The Indian government now says that they are spreading the coronavirus in India.
As many as 250,000 people gathered in Pakistan’s Punjab, mid-March to participate in the annual five-day event or Tablighi ijtima. This is where people, mainly subscribing to the Deobandi sect get together to pray and obtain further training in proselytising. Pakistan is predominantly Barelvi. But the Tablighi Jamaat, which was formed in India in 1926, and its congregations are very popular and powerful for two reasons. First, theoretically, it cuts across sects and thus attracts people from all ideological schools, particularly the Barelvis who have no powerful religious forum of their own. Although Maulana Tahir-ul-Qadri’s Minhajul Quran, or politically, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan are Barelvi organisations, the Tablighi Jamaat continues to attract Muslims across the board. Even Nawaz Sharif as chief minister of Punjab and later as prime minister supported their gatherings. This is because they are generally viewed as benign.
Second, because of its focus primarily on proselytising, it is popular across the socio-economic classes. From powerful institutions of the state and prominent politicians to the middle and lower middle classes, people are attracted to it for its religious teachings.
Also read: One in India’s five Covid-19 patients is linked to Tablighi Jamaat and its Delhi event
Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan
Although it is accused of links with extremist institutions, in Pakistan’s case, militant organisations such as the Jaish-e-Mohammed do not like the Tablighi Jamaat. This is mainly because Jaish-e-Mohammed has an aversion to any institution that does not encourage jihad. However, it is also a fact that a lot of jihadis from the Deobandi sect were initially inspired to join militant organisations because of the introduction to religion by the Tablighi Jamaat.
Perhaps, this is one of the reasons that the son of (late) Lt General Hameed Gul, known for his contacts with jihadis in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Abdullah Gul was sharp in criticising the media for blaming the Tablighi Jamaat as one of the major sources of coronavirus infection in Pakistan. He said, “Media is constantly spewing venom against Tablighi Jamaat, which is hurting sentiments of millions of people…all those religion-weary news anchors, producers, and all news directors should be fined heavily for such irresponsible behaviour.”
His gripe was that it was the Shia devotees who were responsible for most of the infection.
The problem lies in the structure of the Tablighi Jamaat forum that is based on gathering people from within the country and around the world. Even before the annual get-together in Raiwind, Lahore, teams of proselytisers are dispatched all over the world and inside the country. As per the Tablighi Jamaat system, every team stays in a mosque in the areas they travel to and conduct proselytising activities from there. These tours take place throughout the year. But the annual gathering happens in Lahore.
Also read: Tablighi Jamaat tells its followers not to pursue political dominance in this world
Lockdown still a bad idea?
But does one blame the Tablighi Jamaat for this faux pas or the Punjab government, which was extremely slow in responding to the crisis? The federal government did not behave very differently from its counterparts around the world who took so long in responding to the threat. There still continues to be confusion regarding the lockdown as Prime Minister Imran Khan insists that it is a bad idea.
The Punjab government was neither forceful nor clear in its instructions. This lax attitude was one of the reasons why, as sources said, the Tablighi Jamaat management instructed those of its teams that were yet to finish their tour of duty (the source I spoke to had completed his and had spent four months in the field – from December to March) to go to other places around the country and finish their work.
The Tablighi Jamaat members I spoke with boasted about how well they were organised in Raiwind. After the orders to close shops, there was a separate Tablighi Jamaat office to guide each group on their future course of action. This meant that many of those, who were already exposed to members from countries affected by Covid-19 such as China, Iran, the UK, the US, Spain and others, then moved to other parts in Pakistan carrying the virus with them.
In Sindh, the inspector-general of police Mushtaq Mehr announced a quarantine of all Tablighi Jamaat returnees in his province, especially those sitting in mosques. They would be provided with food and other rations with instructions to the police to ensure that no other person came in contact with them. This meant an end to all preaching activities. This was deemed important after over 130 cases tested positive in the city of Hyderabad. Punjab or Islamabad, on the other hand, have not taken any similar action. While the neighbourhood of Bara Kahu in Islamabad is strictly quarantined as some returning Tablighi Jamaat members tested positive, many of the mosques in smaller towns and rural areas of Punjab with Tablighi Jamaat members sitting inside are reportedly still in action.
Also read: Coronavirus was a test of secular nationalism. Then Tablighi Jamaat became the scapegoat
The bigger culprit
In many ways, Islamabad and its satellite government in Lahore are even bigger culprits than the Tablighi Jamaat. While Imran Khan remains totally engrossed in his electoral mode by pretending not to hurt sentiments of the religious Right, it is important for him to realise that what he and the world face is an unprecedented turn of events. Religion, though important, cannot be left on its own without any rational guidance. After all, both Iran and Saudi Arabia – the two central hubs of Islamic faith – have ventured to rationalise. Iran stopped Friday prayer gatherings and Saudi Arabia has sealed mosques and even put pilgrimages on hold.
What is required is a firmer but well-thought-out plan of action, especially in Pakistan and India where religion is not simply about faith or culture but is also central to politics and identity of people. Convincing one segment of population becomes tough, especially if the government is seen as partisan.
Closing down Tablighi Jamaat spaces in India, in particular, would require applying rationality to all. Apparently, days after the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin, there was a large get together at the Shirdi Saibaba temple in Maharashtra. It is the application of greater scientific methodology that will help in survival against this present and clear danger.
The author is research associate at SOAS, London and author of Military Inc. She tweets: @iamthedrifter. Views are personal.
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