Indian media again lost an opportunity to create united India rather than to Divide india on Communal lines even in this critical junction when not only India but whole world is suffering due to the epedimic of COVID-19..
Usually any disaster of any magnitude would bring together everyone despite all forms and kinds of differences and divides. I thought COVID-19 would unite polarized India cutting across all human divides into one. When India was facing such sharp divides right across in the wake of CAA-NRC-NPS, COVID-19 entered Indian landscape. The space that was dominated by CAA-NPR-NPS in the print and visual media all of a sudden changed. For the past four months
COVID is dominating the print, visual and social media. It has brought fear and anxiety in the minds of people.
Nonetheless, those corroded mind-sets who are in the forefront of divisive politics have started their game by pointing to a community spreading coronavirus. People should not get influenced by their narratives but use discretionary know-how and not to fall prey to their trap. Religion-based polarization is dangerous and thus vicious. Use of religious divide has pushed india to primitive times and so as Indians they should be cautious of divisionary games the frenzied mindset play. COVID-19 goes beyond religio-cultural and national and international borders. It has no barriers and treats everyone equitably..
Its spread world wide and the whole world is now trying to fight against it by rasing above poltics and religion ,nowhere in the world it was attached with any particular religion but in india the media has stood too low and to its worst level they attached it with a particular religion and blaming muslims for Cournavirus, I am not defending the Tabligi Jammat here there might be some negligence on their part too but by shielding the gross negligence of Government and the Administration, putting everything on them and blaming Tabligi Jammat for all the mess would be a great injustice with a particular Community. According to the media reports there were some 600 foreigner’s who had attended this gathering mostly from Coronavirus affected countries,who had issued visas to these foreigners to attend this gathering when the Coronavirus was spreading rapidly across the globe.
The Government’s failure and the negligence on their part is being kept in absence deliberately by putting a particular community on lime light which can be blamed for all this in order to sheild the failures and lack of preparedness in advance by Government to tackle with this situation .
with the announcement of unanticipated lockdown call by the Prime minister which crippled everything all of sudden ,people got stucked everywhere with least chances to reach their final destinations,so was the case with these Tablighi Jammaties,
Infact not only these Tablighi persons were stucked but the pilgrims who had visited to different shrines and tamples were also stucked , In MataVishnu davi shrine there were almost 400 to 500 pligrims stucked when the lockdown was announced.
Here the Indian media can be judged by their reporting when the pilgrims were stucked in Matha vishnu Devi the news was yatries stucked in Matha Vishnu Devi temple government must evacuate them as soon as possible and the same news channels turned the same news by giving it a Communal colour Tablighies and Jammaties were hiding themsleves in Nazamuddin,they were not hiding they too were stucked because of the sudden call of lockdown throughout the Country.
The manner in which the Tablighi Jammaties are blamed is irresponsible and deliberate attempt to create hatred and violence against a particular community. I am again not defending the Tablighi Jammat there might be negligence on their part too for which they must be made answerable and tried before the competent Court of Law but by putting the whole muslim community on edge and creating such a class differences among the people and within societies is unacceptable and worst form of degradation of moral values for which the irresponsible Indian media must be blamed,after the hate propaganda by some news channels we have seen how the Muslims in various states of india are being treated now,they are being subjected to cruelty, humiliation and even in some parts they are being boycotted within thier own societies such is the venom spread by these deadly snakes in Thier news rooms..
It is in place to mention here that the Nazamuddin Congregation was not the only Congregation which was held during lockdown through out india ,the Chief minister of UP Yogi Adityanath too attended a busy Hindu celebration attended by 40 thousand people..
Delhi, On 14th March The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha hosted a Gau Mutra party to ward off the novel Coronavirus. About 200 people attended it. But the Delhi Government has not filed a case against Chakrapani Maharaj, the chief of the All India Hindu Mahasabha yet.
March 15th Karnataka,Chief minister BS Yediyurappa ignored his own Coronavirus advice and attended a wedding with two thousand guests,He wasn’t the only BJP senior leader there, Karnataka Home Minister and Various MP’s were present there.
March 18th Delhi , President Kovind hosted members of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan over breakfast at Rashtrapati Bhavan,there was No social distancing and no safety measures were followed,,
Were all of these gatherings Coronavirus exempted ? or they don’t come under the ambit of law for which Nazamuddin head is being charged now..
The coronavirus pandemic had temporarily curbed the persistent communal sickness in Indian politics- or so it seemed, until news broke out that people in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz, the headquarters of the Tableeghi Jamaat, had been tested for the virus. What would have been a regular story in the non-stop corona coverage suddenly turned into unceasing, virulent and propaganda.
A large section of the media and IT cell peddlers have mastered the art of distraction. Every time the Government is questioned- this time it is about the incompetent administration of the corona outbreak and the unplanned lockdown- the lapdog media find an excuse to salvage it from the disaster. Sometimes, it is the insane Nehru-is-responsible type of disinformation, but mostly it is the dangerous scapegoating of Muslims. Demonising Muslims is the easiest of cards to play as it contains the potential to attract closeted bigots.
The coronavirus doesn’t discriminate based on caste, class and religion, it’s time to fight COVID-19 by standing together,portraying the Tablighi Jamaat in a negative light over the developments that unfolded at its congregation in Delhi “That congregation Saw attendance of spiritual representatives from several regions and countries.
“Such a large gathering could have taken place at Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living, Jaggu Vasudev’s Isha Foundation, Baba Ram Dev’s Ashram or in any Church, temple or elsewhere.This situation could have occurred anywhere, so while this is an unfortunate development, no religion should be blamed. Portraying it as a deliberate attempt is wrong and should not be done. Nobody should try to put the blame against any particular community,we must also avoid seeing those infected with this virus and their families with hate and instead treat them with love and compassion.”
Prevention is the only way to contain the spread of coronavirus. Every individual without discrimination of caste, religion or community has to maintain social distance during the lockdown the coronavirus is not going to look at a person’s religion before infecting them, this is not the time to embark on a communal mission.
But now, some news channels with vested interests have begun campaigns to spread intolerant messages attacking a religion. This is a time of an epidemic. This is a time we need to stick together.”
The Writer is columnist and can be reached at wanimudasirnazir@gmail.com
