Nizamuddin Dargah Tragedy

Nizamuddin Dargah Tragedy

What Is Nizamuddin Dargah?

Nizamuddin Dargah is the dargah (mausoleum) of one of the Sufi saints,  Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya (1238 - 1325 CE). Situated in the Nizamuddin West area of Delhi, the dargah is visited by thousands of pilgrims every week. The site is also known for its evening qawwali devotional music sessions. The descendants of Nizamuddin Auliya look after the whole management of Dargah Sharif. The present white pearl dome was constructed by Nawab Syed fàrid Murtaza Bukhari ( nawab Murtaza Khan ) who was treasurer and mir Bakshi of Akbar and Jahangir's empire and was descendent of Syed Jalaluddin Surkhposh Bukhari of Uch Sharif.

COURTESY: WIKIPEDIA

Why is it becoming popular these days?

Basic Idea

 Walls that are history lessons, streets crammed with flower sellers, and winding lanes that lead to the revered shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya — Delhi’s Nizamuddin West region has always been a world bustling with colour, culture and chaos.

On 30 March 2020, the colour faded as the area was cordoned off and controversy over it being a coronavirus cluster emerged.

A religious congregation held in mid-March at the Tablighi Jamaat ‘Markaz’, or headquarters, in Nizamuddin, saw thousands of people in attendance, including foreigners. Over 400 people are believed to have contacted the infection at this congregation. The Markaz is located 100 metres from the dargah.

Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti, named after the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, came into existence in the 13th century, and eventually came to the house the famous dargah of the saint who passed away in 1325, and his spiritual disciple, poet Amir Khusrau. The compound also has the grave of Mughal princess Jahanara Begum, daughter of Shah Jahan. A couple hundred meters away is Humayun’s tomb.

Tablighi Jamaat

The headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat is a 100-year-old, six-floor mosque complex also known as the Bangle wali masjid.
The Tablighi Jamaat is a global Sunni Islamic missionary movement with its roots in India. It was started in Mewat in 1926 by Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas.

COURTESY: THE PRINT

With nearly a third of cases linked to its New Delhi gathering, Muslim missionary movement comes under intense scrutiny.

Real Incident

The headquarters of the Muslim missionary movement, the Tablighi Jamaat, in the narrow lanes of capital New Delhi's Nizamuddin area, is full of activity, with hundreds of worshippers streaming in and out of the five-storey building.

But, on March 22, authorities shut its doors - with about 2,500 worshippers still inside - after it emerged that a religious gathering organised by the group on March 13-15 caused the biggest coronavirus spike in India.

Of about 4,400 COVID-19 positive cases in India, nearly a third are related to the religious gathering at the Markaz, as the Jamaat headquarters is known. The government claimed more than 8,000 people, including foreigners, visited the headquarters in early March.

While accusing the Jamaat leadership of "carelessness" during a global pandemic, experts and civil society members also blamed the central government for its delayed response and allowing foreigners, particularly those coming from COVID-19 hotspot nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia, into India.

"There was no screening even when there were reports that some people with a history of travel to the Markaz had tested positive."

MUJEEB-UR-REHMAN, TABLIGHI JAMAAT SPOKESMAN

Authorities only started screening people staying at the Markaz from March 26, a day after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown to control the pandemic.

On March 22, the gates of the Markaz, which also acts as a dormitory for hundreds of preachers from around the world, were shut after the city-state government in Delhi announced curbs on movement of people.

"Nobody could go out any longer," said Mohammad Jaynul Abdin, a 64-year-old worshipper who was inside the building. He was among 2,361 people the government evacuated between March 30 and April 1.

A retired headteacher of an Islamic school in the northeastern state of Assam, Abdin has been moved to an isolation ward in New Delhi's Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital.

Virus panic across India 

Meanwhile, panic gripped a large part of India as state governments launched a massive search to identify all those who had visited the Markaz and people they came into contact with them later. 

As of Monday, more than 25,000 Jamaat members and their contacts had been quarantined across nearly 15 Indian states.

"Our doubling rate is 4.1 days at present. But if additional cases reported due to the Tablighi Jamaat had not happened, then the doubling rate would have been 7.4 days," Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in India's Ministry of Health, told reporters on Sunday.

"It is unfortunate that people are calling it a conspiracy and using terms like Corona Jihad."

FAIZAN MUSTAFA, CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERT

But experts have warned India is not testing enough people, with an average of 93 tests per million people.

It soon became evident that most of the infected, including more than 1,000 foreigners, had travelled to the Markaz before dispersing to different parts of the country of 1.3 billion people.

COURTESY: ALJAZEERA

Controversies

After this incident, questions are being raised on this Jamat. Maulana Saad (their basic priest) has become an integral part of this controversy because of his controversial talks. This incident has left a deep imprint on people. People, without enough knowledge, are blaming the whole religion instead of blaming the Jamaat.

The Tablighi Jamaat is facing a harsh time. They should have been aware of the pandemic outbreak.

What do People Say??

As usual, this controversy is also being surrounded by the circle of social inequality and communal intolerance. What I personally think is that it is a very sensitive topic to talk on. In a country, like India, people do not accept the idea of 'Unity In Diversity' mentally. As I earlier said, these are accepted constitutionally but are not practised socially. Jamaatis should be blamed for their crime and so are they the central point of attraction for Indian Media. When I talked to some, they considered these Jamaatis Muslims and therefore supported their idea of Muslims being a burden for the country. These Jamaatis in the Markaz reflected their whole religion instead of reflecting their crimes. People have got a chance to talk on this intolerant idea.

My Opinion
These people have surely made a mistake for which they cannot be obliged. After all this controversy, these Jamaatis are also indulging in crimes in hospitals. They have also been reported to misbehave with the nurses. In my opinion, they are not understanding that Coronavirus Pandemic is not a joke. More than 70,000 people have lost their lives and more than 12 lakhs are infected (As of 7 April 2020). Is this really a joke? 
You read the above paragraph, did you? I am sure you did. I criticised these Jamaatis severely and so are their works. I don't know about the inner ring of this controversy but what I want to convey is that I did not use the word 'Muslim' to criticise them. If you use the word Muslim to describe this topic, then sorry my friend but you surely are discriminating. As I earlier said in this blog, this is a very sensitive topic. One word of anyone can inspire a riot. Jamaatis are illiterate and therefore unaware of what they did. I personally don't believe it to be a terror based step. These are all fake news. You cannot consider Muslims to be dangerous or wrong because of some people of their 'religion'. One bad man does not reflect the whole society. Muslims are becoming a part of central criticism of many people in India just because of these Jamaatis. The above paragraph is written just to tell you that criticism can be done without taking any name. As I earlier said in my other blogs that diverse countries can make their diversity an asset for them instead of a liability. After you are aware of the fact that everyone is equal, then you will never ever use the word Muslim for these people. Crimes have no religion because religion never supports crime. I truly believe in my ideas but if you have some other ones, then you're free to write them in the comments. I still say that I am not favouring Jamaatis; I am just spreading awareness so that some innocent people are not discriminated.
I suggest you to read this blog too- Equality For All

What to Do Now?
Apart from this topic, if you get any fake news on any social media platform, please don't forward or neither do believe in it. 
The lockdown will surely help to break the chain of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of Nizamuddin Dargah. Spread awareness among your relatives about not blaming all Muslims on the name of Jihaad or Jamaat. India has a huge diversity and therefore, there seems no stance to discriminate any group on any base. Spread Love and not Hatred.

If you still believe my idea to be just a 'talk of the litter', then you're free to think your way. My motive for writing this post is to make you think over your thinkings that may be harmful to society. It does not affect the individual but the society is rotated on a whole.

If you suspect that you're a coronavirus victim, then do call on this number. This is issued by the Govt. Of India for every Indian. Don't be apprehended and help to break the chain.

#BreakTheChain