Don’t Communalise COVID-19 Crisis: BJP Chief to Party Leaders

BJP chief JP Nadda reportedly asked party leaders not to make statements that communalise the coronavirus crisis.

BJP president JP Nadda has reportedly asked party leaders not to make statements that communalise the coronavirus crisis. Nadda cautioned the party’s national office bearers on Thursday, 2 April, from making any provocative and divisive statements, reported The Indian Express.

The BJP chief reportedly asked party leaders who were present in the meeting to only support the efforts of the Prime Minister and state governments no matter what party was in power.

This comes after BJP leaders and supporters made anti-Islamic comments on social media over the fallout of the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi. Out of over 5,000 people who reportedly attended the event, over 400 have tested positive for COVID-19.

Following the spike in cases, campaigns like ‘CoronaJihad’ have popped up on social media, giving the health crisis a communal angle.

The Indian Express quoted a senior BJP leader who emphasised that no one should issue any statements that are provocative and added,

“This was reiterated when the Tablighi issue came up. There is a directive that no one should make it a communal issue. Only leaders of the minority community can comment on that if they wish to. We have to be united in our fight against the virus.”

Senior BJP leader to The Indian Express

‘From Islamic Insurrection to Tabilani Crime’

BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya is among many others who have given the crisis a communal angle. Malviya claimed that the last three months have been an ‘Islamic insurrection of sorts’.

Delhi’s dark underbelly is exploding! Last 3 months have seen an Islamic insurrection of sorts, first in the name of anti-CAA protests from Shaheen Bagh to Jamia, Jaffrabad to Seelampur. And now the illegal gathering of the radical Tablighi Jamaat at the markaz. It needs a fix!

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 31, 2020

Minorities Affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi called the action by the Tablighi Jamaat a ‘Talibani crime’.

“It is a Talibani crime by Tabhleeghi Jamaat, such criminal act can not be forgiven. They have put lives of many people in danger. Strict action should be taken against such people and organisations that defy govt directions,” he told ANI.