Syed Ali Ahmed | India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI, MAY 7—Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) is providing legal help to over 1700 Tablighi Jamaat activists hailing from 52 foreign countries who are lodged either in quarantine centres or in jails in different states in the country on charges varying from violating the provisions of the lockdown to the provisions under the Foreigners’ Act.
Speaking to India Tomorrow, JUH (Arshad) president Maulana Arshad Madni said that his organisation was providing all kind of aid, particularly the legal aid, to all the overseas Tablighis to ensure that they are released and sent to their respective countries.
All of them had come here to attend the congregation of Tablighi Jamaat held in March this year through valid travel documents, before the announcement of lockdown. However, they were trapped, mostly in the headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat at Hazrat Nizamuddin, when the central government announced ‘Janata Curfew’ on March 22, followed by 21-day lockdown 1.0 on March 24 which has been extended twice. The lockdown 3.0 is scheduled to end on May 17. Movement of people within and outside the country is completely prohibited during the lockdown
Maulana Madni said that advocates on the JUH panel are taking up cases of foreign Tablighis in the districts where they are currently quarantined or jailed.
According to Maulana Madni, all other states like Bihar, Jharkhand, MP, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, barring Uttar Pradesh, have invoked provisions of Indian Penal Code including Sections 188(violation of lockdown) and 269, 270 and 271 (acting negligently in spread of an infectious disease). He said that all these charges were bailable. But in UP, police had booked foreign Tablighis under violations of Section 14 (b and c) of the Foreigners’ Act which is non-bailable and a very serious offence.
A total of 28 FIRs have been lodged. In Delhi, five FIRs have been lodged against 17 foreigners and four FIRs against 33 people in Uttar Pradesh.
As many as seven foreigner Tablighis lodged in Palwal Jail in Haryana were released on bail recently with the help of the Jamiat. A few have been released on bail in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra also.
According to UP police, the reason for booking Tablighis under the Foreigners’ Act is that they had come on tourist visa but were found involved in Tabligh(missionary activity) which is clearly prohibited under the Foreigners’ Act. The Home Ministry allows Tablighis or missionaries only when such missionaries have local sponsorship and the local sponsor applies for him through proper channels in the Home Ministry. In such cases, local sponsor has to bear all the responsibility of the missionary. While a large number of Christian organisations are on the list of the Home Ministry to be allowed to invite and sponsor foreign missionaries in certain cases, there is not even a single Muslim organisation on the Home Ministry’s list having the approval to invite and sponsor any missionary or Tablighi. All the Tablighis were so far coming on tourist visas only but the Home Ministry and the police simply ignored their activities for the reasons best known to them only. But it is also a fact that none of the Tablighis from any country were ever found to indulge in any criminal or any other activity dangerous to the interest of India.
The majority of the foreign Tablighis are from Indonesia(750), followed by Bangladesh (190), Malaysia (170), Kirgistan (125) and Thailand (115). Besides, nationals of Maldives, Palestine, Sudan, Marakash, Kazakhstan, Zambia, China, Tobago, Britain, Iran, France, Siam and Afghanistan etc are also either quarantined or lodged in jails.
Jamiat officials talked to embassies of these countries and have written letters to them asking for their cooperation in seeking release of their nationals. According to Maulana Madni, embassies of all the 52 countries have assured to provide all legal documents if required. They also appreciated the Jamiat for its help to their nationals.
The maximum number of foreign Tablighis are in Delhi. Their number is 500. The Jamiat has so far received a list of 216 foreign Tablighis in Uttar Pradesh. In district Saharanpur, 59 Tablighis are lodged in jail. Others are in Bahraich, Shahjahanpur, Kanpur, Muradabad, Jaunpur, Barabanki, Sitapur, Lucknow, Shamli and Allahabad, Maulana Madni said.
More than 2,300 people were evacuated from the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Hazrat Nizamuddin on April 1 by the Delhi Police. A probe was subsequently launched into the organisation, its members and prior gatherings. A detailed questionnaire was also sent to its chief Maulana Mohammed Saad Kandhalwi. In a letter to the Delhi Police Crime Branch, the Markaz chief claimed that he is under self-quarantine and the Markaz is locked.
A Tablighi Jamaat spokesman had earlier said that Jamaat leadership informed the local police about the stranded activists in its Markaz and had also sought government help to transport them to their destinations. But the police and local administration did not cooperate.
