A Lucknow court has discharged nine foreign nationals belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat from the cases lodged against them during the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
In the order, the judge noted that there was no prima-facie evidence against them to make them face trial. The nine had been booked for allegedly committing various offences and breaching provisions of the Foreigners Act and Epidemic Act last year.
The discharged Tablighi Jamaat members have been identified as Mohammad Madali, Hasan Pancho, Sithipanglimsiripat, Suraskalamulsak, Arsen Thomya, Romlikole, Abdullah Maming, Abdul Basir Idorothai and Apdunbahav Vimuteekaan. All of them, who belongs to Thailand, had earlier been granted bail.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Sushil Kumari, while discharging the nine, however, stipulated that their bail bonds and personal bonds would be discharged only after the appropriate action by the Central government. The court passed the order on the discharge application moved by the Jamaat members themselves.
The Bombay High Court quashed FIRs filed against a total of 29 foreign nationals while stating that the Tablighi Jamaat members were made “scapegoats” and criticised the “big media propaganda” against them. In June last year, the Madras HC quashed FIRs against Tablighi Jamaat foreigners after observing that they had “suffered enough” and urged the centre to consider their request to return to their native places. A metropolitan court in Mumbai acquitted 20 foreign nationals of the Tablighi Jamaat, observing that the prosecution has not provided even an iota of evidence to support the allegation that they violated the lockdown norms.
Despite these judgements, the Tablighi Jamaat continue to be blamed for spreading the coronavirus in India.
The congregation of the Sunni Muslim sect was attended by many foreigners and was blamed for thousands of coronavirus infections around the country in the initial weeks of the nationwide lockdown, which began on March 25. The overwhelming section of the media gave a communal angle in the coverage to vilify Tablighi Jamaat followers and Muslims at large. There had been rampant disinformation and a tsunami of fake news attributing old and often unrelated incidents to Muslims, blaming them of a false and disproven conspiracy to spread the pandemic.
