We pleaded with the Delhi govt for help for 7 days: Tablighi Jamaat

The Tablighi Jamaat has held the Delhi government responsible for the community transmission of COVID19 The Jamaats spokesperson Shahid Ali claimed that despite repeated requests the Delhi government did not issue curfew passes to stranded attendees after the lockdown took effect on March 24The government initiated a police crackdown when they realised foreign nationals are among the stranded and could infect others he further claimedTablighi Jamaats spokesperson Shahid Ali said that it is incorrect to brand the Tablighi Jamaat as the epicentre of Coronavirus in IndiaTablighi Jamaat members from Ahmedabad being taken into quarantineThis is the centre for Tablighi Jamaat which means a group of persons And these people visit every corner of the world and after completing their terms of visiting the world they have to report to the Markaz centre These people come from far places And when the lockdown was announced on March 24 nearly 3500 such people were stuck here at Nizamuddin said Ali who is also the counsel for Jamaats absconding chief Mohammad Saad who is said to be in quarantine at an undisclosed locationThough a few managed to leave the Markaz many remained stuck as their trains and flights were cancelled We requested the Delhi government to give us curfew passes to help the stranded We had vehicles and drivers But it didnt said AliWe requested the government on March 25 26 27 28 29 30 and 31 Only when the administration realised that there are international travellers amid at the Markaz did they wake up and police crackdown began he added Delhi government should have given us curfew passes or quarantined us or tested us for COVID19 But nothing was done The Delhi government is responsible for this Neither the District Magistrate nor the Additional District Magistrate gave us the passes AliHe further accused the Delhi government of creating a scene after which the Markaz was dubbed as epicentre of COVID19 The entire world knows that Coronavirus started to spread from China We are being targeted by people with vested interests he saidWe tested negativeThe attendees of Tablighi Jamaat an Islamic religious gathering told midday that they got to know about Coronavirus after returning to MumbaiIt was a religious gathering and I travelled from Hyderabad to reach Nizamuddin on March 14 There were nearly 650 people from Hyderabad and 2000 devotees from Telangana After staying for three days we returned to Hyderabad said a 45yearold man who operates a movers and packers business in HyderabadAfter returning to Hyderabad I got myself tested for COVID19 and the report was negative But on April 1 I received a call from local police who asked me to go into quarantine I told him that I have been tested negative yet the cops and municipal corporation officials have kept me in quarantine for 14 days he addedGetting constant callsA New Delhi Municipal Corporation NDMC employee who hails from Goregaon and is settled in Delhi is being constantly contacted by authorities My job is to count trees in Delhi And I was in Nizamuddin for that I got a call from police who are telling me to selfisolate he saidA 25yearold Malad resident went to Odisha for work related to the Jamaat On March 11 he reached Nizamuddin and returned to Mumbai on March 16 I developed no symptoms of COVID19 But on April 1 cops called me and forced me to stay in an isolation ward at a guest house in Malad East the man saidA Hyderabad resident who has been quarantined said It is really inhuman and incorrect to paint the Jamaat as the epicentre of COVID19Over three dozen people who attended the Jamaat in Nizamuddin are being quarantined at guest houses at Aksa beach in Malad West While three to seven attendees are being quarantined in a hotel in Kandivali WestWe returned to Malwani on March 16 and developed no symptoms of Coronavirus We received a call on April 1 and are being quarantined at Aksa beach said a quarantined attendeeA 50yearold Lokhandwala resident too had gone to Nizamuddin in February to attend the Jamaat I stayed there for three days and returned to Mumbai I developed no symptoms I neither received a call from BMC nor from Mumbai police But I have learnt that the cops in Delhi are getting dump data of people who visited Nizamuddin Markaz said the man who is an online trader in Mumbai3500No of people Jamaat claims were stranded after lockdown came into effectCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates