Home Ministry Blacklists Over 2,000 Foreign Tablighi Jamaat Members, Not Allowed To Enter India For Next 10 Years

Report By: Nandika Chand | Last Updated June 4, 2020

The Home Ministry has blacklisted 2,550 foreign Tablighi Jamaat members and they will not be allowed to enter into India for the next 10-years. These congregational members had been part of the religious event at the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin in Delhi when the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown had been imposed.

Sources said the decision to ban the Tablighi Jamaat members was taken after the authorities came to know that the foreigners were illegally living in mosques and religious places across India. They said some congregational members had later tested positive for COVID-19. “Over 900 foreign nationals who are accused in the case belong to 34 different countries and charge sheets are beong prepared country-wise, under sections of the Foreigners Act, Epidemic Diseases Act, Disaster Management Act and relevant sections of IPC,” sources said.

But according to various reports, only 64 member of the Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive for COVID-19 and two had died to the virus. Maulana Arshad Madani, the Jamaat president, said highlighting of Tablighi Jamaat cases while talking about the total number of cases in the country had allegedly created an atmosphere of hatred against Muslims. He supported his argument through data, saying that there were 1,640 members of foreign Tablighi Jamaat from 47 countries in India at the time of the Markaz incident. The head said 64 had tested positive for COVID-19 and have now fully recovered. He further said that the virus-spread had nothing to do with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

Now, India has over 2 lakh COVID-19 confirmed cases with 9,304 patients testing positive in the last 24-hours. The death toll stands at 254.