By: Dr. Mohammad Aleem, Editor, ICN Group
NEW DELHI: It is really a tough time to pass at this time of the nationwide lockdown and social distancing. People are bound to get fed up with such long incarceration in their homes. In such times, hate mongers and rumor peddlers also become active and quite sharp. Some have found time to extract revenge and some no doubt tried to settle their old scores. Today, a national Hindi daily reported that in Kolkata, an educated lady just spread a false rumor that a certain person has the coronavirus and she is going to infect thousands of others.
In the same way, many communalized people jumped quickly over this report that a great number of people of the religious organization, Tablighi Jamaat have been found active with the Covid-19. Unfortunately, it is true. According to the latest reports, around 9 have died due to this deadly infection and around 400 are positive. Many hundreds among them have been hospitalized. There are several others who have been quarantined. The worrying thing is that they had come from around 19 states of India and many foreign destinations like Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan etc.
Such trouble can strike anyone who does not follow the medical advices. But here, the question arises that why it happened despite of the strict clamp down in the heart of the capital city Delhi, at Nizamuddin.
Could it happen because the decision of the lockdown was sudden and abrupt? Or is it the fact that the people of the Tablighi Jamaat ignored the government’s advisory?
All these things are now a matter of impartial investigation. And the orders from the Kejriwal Government and the Lieutenant Governor have been issued to the police to investigate.
We should hope that the truth will come out as it should be brought open to the general people. There will be no mean politics of Hindu-Muslim behind it.
There is no denying of this fact also that the Prime Minister’s nationwide lockdown on 24 March came as a strong jolt without giving proper time to prepare for anyone. We can understand this through the sordid situation of the hundreds and thousands of the migrant workers who had been destined to live in hunger and die a tragic death on the roads due to this hasty decision. Anyway, I don’t say it is not needed, but without proper arrangements, it was rashly implemented. And other fear is that there may be thousands of such laborers and migrant works who will be carrying the coronavirus infection with them to their own homes and villages. And if it happens, it will be a great disaster.
Just a sad news came from Bihar where a migrant laborer, Bablu Kumar was lynched by the fellow villagers just because he had informed the authority about the visit of some migrant laborers from Maharashtra.
Such innumerable incidents will come to light once this dark cloud of the calamity subsides.
Now, come to this Tablighi Jamaat controversy which has been taken by the Godi Media as a sumptuous meal in this hour of crisis.
Tablighi Jamaat’s work is not new in India and the world. It was founded some 70 years ago by an Islamic scholar of Mewat, Haryana. Their motto was simple to make aware the community people about the basic teachings and practices of Islam. But later on, it developed like a cult and amassed a huge number of followers in their fold. Their one of the important objectives is always to lure the naive and gullible, and mostly, uneducated Muslims in their organization. They hardly think that what will be the long term impact on the lives of these poorly educated people. Most of them become so addicted to it that they keep going out to the several places with other members of the organization regularly. Many among them even forget their family responsibilities. They simply leave everything, either worldly or godly, in the hands of Allah.
Their main work is preaching through small and large congregations, either in mosques or homes or in open places. They take care of their own travel and food expenses, though, wherever they go, some sympathizers always offer them good food just to please their hearts or to please God or out of reverence.
This organization mainly runs through the individual donations. But where it goes and how it is being spent are their private affair completely as most of other Islamic and other religious institutions of other faiths do. In that condition, corruption and malpractices are bound to crop up. The whole funds remain in a few hands tightly. They live on it like a king and enjoy all worldly pleasures as any rich man could think of.
I have never been associated with this organization in any way, though I often meet them in the mosques whenever I go to pray.
There are a few strong reasons behind my abhorrence towards them.
First, I found them never intellectually appealing and sound. Their style of working is not attractive. Usually, they visit to any place in a small group of five or six or more. One among them would be their Amir, leader, who guides them as how to act, how to behave, how to talk and how to preach.
Their leadership is decided on the basis of their seniority in that particular group, even though, if he or she is illiterate. They hardly give importance to any educational background. However, it is not the case all the time. There are some groups of the professionals also as of engineers, doctors, teachers and others. But they are a few and can be counted on the fingers.
The second cause of my revulsion towards them is that they mostly live and work during their usually 40 day long, or smaller days preaching time in quite unhygienic conditions.
Though, most of the mosques are clean and pure, but not their toilets and bathrooms. I have found them mostly crowded and unkempt.
The third reason is their way of dressing and etiquette. They usually grow long beards, but mostly untrimmed. Their favorite dresses are loose Kurta and Pajama. They wear their pajamas as the tailor have sewn them with great effort due to want of proper clothes. They, in fact, follow the tradition of wearing pajamas pulled up quite high above their ankles.
Anyway, despite of these shortcomings, they work like a cohesive force and help each other socially and economically in their hour of need. It is their positive side which I generously admit. They also train the illiterate people how to perform the basic rituals of Islam well.
I hope that this controversy will die down soon. But with a little hope that they will be reformed in a way as the time demands.
Dr. Mohammad Aleem is an award winning novelist, playwright, scriptwriter and journalist.