By Gautam Kumar.

"Even if the condition in India deteriorates our Governments have the ability to save themselves but we cannot..."

 The three major events in the coronavirus crisis that became or had the potential to become a major reason for the corona outbreak risking billions.

- The mass gathering of Migrant workers at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal
- Tablighi Jamaat Congregation
- Bandra Gathering
Actually, there are more than three events but the Indian Television news remained focused at these three events only because somehow these three events helped the Indian governments put the blame on others running away from their responsibilities.

The mass gathering of Migrant workers at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal

The story starts with the mass exodus of migrant workers at Anand Vihar Terminals on March 28, 2020. Thousands of migrant workers gathered at Anand vihar terminal expecting to get a bus so that they can reach their homes as they could not sustain their life in Delhi during the lockdown. The daily wage workers had no option but to move to their native places. Either they die by Corona or by Hunger; they are meant to be dead in this crisis.

“Our incomes have stopped since the Delhi riots. I stay in Bhajanpura and work at a cloth factory. We get paid only on a piece-rate basis, we do not have fixed salaries. Since the riots, we haven’t got any work. Holi came after and now the new coronavirus. We tried staying here but we have no money left. I have two children. What will I do? We live in rented accommodation and did not have any money or food left,” said 30-year old Neeraj Kumar, who wants to go to Budaun in western UP. (Source- The Wire )

This raised a strong question on the government that why it went for a nationwide lockdown without planning. Even if this lockdown saves the Indians from corona, their migrant workers are going to die from hunger. The threat of the situation can be measured by the centre’s statement only which on March 31 informed the Supreme Court that there is a possibility that 3 out of 10 persons moving from cities to rural areas are carrying Coronavirus.

However, the blame shifted to the Delhi Government when the UP authorities stated that the Delhi authorities disconnected the water and electrical energy connections of individuals. “Throughout lockdown, individuals weren’t even supplied meals and milk in Delhi,” stated the report quoting UP government sources. The UP authorities have also alleged that DTC buses dropped off individuals on the Delhi border within the title of assist, Opindia reported.

Tablighi Jamaat Congregation

To understand this case we need to know the timeline of various events and orders passed by the Central government and Delhi government. The Tablighi Jamaat was already being criticized for holding a congregation in Malaysia from February 27  to March 1. Its event was canceled in Indonesia. Despite this, permission was granted in Delhi’s Nizammudin Markaz. A scheduled event in Maharashtra was also canceled.

The event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz held between March 13 and March 15. However, the hype against the Tablighi Jamaat began during the last week of March and the first week of April. Many thought that the event was held during the lockdown. On March 13, the Health Ministry said COVID-19 is not a health emergency. The Central Government, as well as Delhi Government both, started accusing the Tablighi Jamaat organizers.




When the blame game started, Lapdog media acted as catalysts. The way it was covered by TV news channels and a communal angle was given to it, people started questioning the Muslims.













Courtesy for this collection: Huffpost

Rumors and fake news started circulating on social media regarding the ill-treatment of doctors and health workers by the Tablighi Jamaat members. An environment of hate against the community was set up on news channels. Alt news busted as many fake news as it could. Some of them are:

- Old video from Pakistan falsely viral as Tablighi Jamaat member roaming naked in an isolation ward. 
Read the complete story.
- Media misreport: Tablighi Jamaat member defecate in open after being refused non-veg food. 
Read the complete story.
- DCP Noida refutes ANI on linking quarantine set up in Sector 5 Harola with Tablighi Jamaat. 
Read the complete story.
There are many reasons why this event should not be given a communal angle. A large number of religious gatherings did happen concurrently other than the Tablighi Jamat Congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz because there were no proper regulation or advisory issued by the Indian Authorities.

AAP leader Atishi argued that the Delhi govt through an order dated 13 March prohibited sports gathering (including IPL)/ conferences / seminars beyond 200 people. However, there was no mention of religious gatherings in it. Perhaps that is why the Delhi Government ordered on 16th of March barring any religious or political gathering till 31st of March. It must be noted that the congregation held till March 15 and the Parliament session continued till March 23.

Let us look at other religious congregation:

 - Till 16th March Sidhhi Vinayak Mandir was open.
- Till 16th March Ujjain Mahakaleshwar was open.
- Till 17th March Shirdi Sayin Baba Mandir was open.
- Till 18th March Vaishno Devi Mandir was open.
- Till 20th March Kashi Vishwanath Temple was open.

Also, the senior BJP leaders (Chief Ministers) 

-On 25th March, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath performed the pre-dawn ceremony in Ayodhya.
-On 23rd March, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan who took oath as MP Chief Minister in a packed Raj Bhavan.
-On 15th March, On Chief Minister of Karnataka B.S Yediyurappa attended a wedding ceremony with an estimated crowd of 3000 people.
It was on 19th March when PM Modi talked about Social Distancing followed by a Janta Curfew on 22nd March and a nationwide lockdown announced on 24th March.  So, if we call this congregation stupid and look the Muslims through a different lens, better we should start using the same lens for other religious congregations and the people associated with it. Another way could be questioning the logic behind religious congregations.

The Bandra gathering

On April 14, when the nationwide lockdown was extended to May 3, a large crowd gathered at Bandra railway station looking for trains to their native places. Why? Such a violation of “Social Distancing” norms is a huge embarrassment to both central government and state government of Maharashtra. Mumbai police have arrested 11 people so far blaming for this gathering. An ABP Majha Journalist Rahul Kulkarni was also arrested. They have been booked under Section 117 for abetting the commission of an offense by the public, Section 188 for disobeying an order given by public servant, Section 269 for committing a negligent act likely to spread disease, Section 270 for malignant act likely to spread disease, Section 505 (2) related to statements that in public mischief and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, which relates to disobeying that legislation.

However, the authorities are silent on the circular that Kulkarni talked about in his show where the railways itself talked about running Jansadharan train for the stranded migrant workers.




A clarification was issued but it just looked a formality and there’s no logic behind it. It risked thousands of lives and instead of taking responsibility the government has shifted the blame on a Journalist.

The above three cases are the classic example of major policy and communication failure by the Indian governments. However, in all these cases, our government brilliantly shifted the blame:

On Delhi government for the Mass gathering of migrant workers at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal saving the Central and UP government, On Tablighi Jamat and the entire Muslim community for the Tablighi Jamaat Congregation saving Delhi and Central government, On Journalist in Bandra gathering saving the Maharashtra and Central government.

They know how to save themselves. Even if the condition in India deteriorates Indian Governments have the ability to save themselves but we cannot save ourselves by blaming a community or any government. However, we can save ourselves by asking for doctors, hospitals, testing kits, ventilators, etc. and questioning our governments for this.