MHA asks states to screen Rohingyas for COVID-19 as many of them attended Delhi's Tablighi Jamaat event: Sources

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked all states and UTs to screen Rohingya Muslims living in their jurisdiction for coronavirus COVID-19 as many of them had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin, sources said on Friday.

In a communication to Chief Secretaries and DGPs, the ministry said there have been reports that several Rohingya Muslims have attended 'Ijtemas' and other religious congregations of Tablighi Jamaat and there is a possibility of their contracting COVID-19.

The ministry said the Rohingyas residing in camps in Hyderabad had attended Tablighi Jamaat 'Ijtema' at Haryana's Mewat and had also attended the meet at national capital's Nizamuddin. 

Similarly, Rohingyas living in Delhi's Sangam Vihar and Shaheen Bagh, who had gone for the event, have not returned to their camps. Also, the presence of Rohingya Muslims, after attending the event, has also been reported from Dera Bassi in Punjab and Jammu area. 

Therefore, Rohingya Muslims and their contacts may need to be screened for COVID-19 and accordingly, necessary measures may be taken in this regards on priority, added the sources.

A congregation at Markaz in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi of Tablighi Jamaat became an epicentre of coronavirus spread, with several who attended the event testing positive and infecting hundreds of others across the country. The headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat group in a cramped corner of Delhi was sealed and thousands of followers, including some from Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh, were taken into quarantine after it emerged they had attended meetings there in mid-March.

Police initially filed a case against Muhammad Saad Kandhalvi, the chief of the centre, for violating a ban on big gatherings but later invoked the law against culpable homicide.

The Tablighi is one of the world`s biggest Sunni Muslim proselytising organisations with followers in more than 80 countries, promoting a pure form of Islam.