Agra: Despite Twice Testing Negative for COVID-19, Tablighi Jamaat Members Continue to Remain in Quarantine

Lucknow: Over 60 members of the Tablighi Jamaat who have been quarantined in the Sikandra area of Agra have not been released, despite repeated requests. They have twice tested negative for COVID-19 and their 14-day quarantine period was over long ago. Twenty four persons from among them have health issues, ranging from diabetes to heart-related ailments.

Most of the Jamaat members in the quarantine centre are residents of Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. All of them reached out to the district administration after the state government urged everyone that had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin, Delhi, to immediately report to the nearest government hospital or call their helpline number.

When NewsClick asked Prabha Kant Awasthi, the Additional District Magistrate (City) Agra, about the delay in their release, he said that they would be released only after they received approval from the government.

"They have not committed any offence and are not being able to go to their respective hometowns as there is no vehicular movement due to the lockdown. The district administration is discussing the matter with the state government and will reach a decision on their release soon," said Arvind Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) at Sikandra. The officer told NewsClick that an FIR had not been registered against them.

NewsClick spoke to a dozen members of the Jamaat who have been quarantined in the facility and they said that the experience was like being in jail. Most of those spoken to are facing health issues and not getting access to medicine. "The chief of the Tablighi Jamaat in Agra went to the district headquarters and had informed the police about us. We were shifted to this centre on March 28. We had been told that after tests were conducted on our samples, all of those that reported negative for COVID-19 would be released. Four days later, on April 1, our samples were taken and by God's grace, the results were negative," said a member of the Tablighi Jamaat from Delhi, who has been under quarantine at the facility, on the condition of anonymity.

He added that the police “had backtracked” on their word about releasing them “and we were informed that 14 days of quarantine is compulsory for everyone.” The Jamaat member added that they were told that another test would be conducted and their samples were taken on April 18. “All of the samples were confirmed to be COVID-19 negative the very next day. Since then, the police and the administration is making excuses and not letting us go. We have been pleading with the concerned officers to allow us to go home as our festival is near and we want to be with our families, but all in vain. The cops even threatened to book us under criminal charges if we continued to ask them for a date of release,” he alleged.

Another Jamaat member from Andhra Pradesh, who has spent more than 46 days in the same quarantine centre, said it seemed like he was being punished for a serious criminal offence. "I am a diabetic and pleaded for my medicine but I have not received it. If I will not get the medicine, this disease will take my life before the coronavirus,” he alleged.

When asked about the quality of food, he said that the food being served to them would not be given “even to an animal. We are being ill-treated by the staff and have faced discrimination when we demanded better food and medicine."

There are 12 women among the 60 persons at the quarantine centre and many of them complained of inadequate facilities. “There are several issues for the women but instead of helping us, they are targeting us unnecessarily and blamed us for spreading the coronavirus," a woman said, adding that her two kids were at home with no one to take care of them.

At least 80 Muslims including two women who spent more than 25 days in quarantine at the Kasturba Awasiya Balika Vidyalaya in Bijnor also alleged that they had faced discrimination from members of the staff.

"Out of 80 persons, 33 people were associated with the Tablighi Jamaat and rest do not have any link with the association but were kept in quarantine by force. I received a call from the police on April 27 who mentioned that my name was on their list,” said a person who had last attended the Jamaat in 2008. He alleged that the police told him that he would have to be quarantined for 14 days. When he refused saying that he had not gone to Nizamuddin for the congregation, the police called him again the next day. “When I refused, a cop threatened me, saying that if I did not do so, my entire family would be quarantined," he alleged.

He further added that he spent more than 25 days in quarantine and that his samples were taken twice and the results came back negative, but that the staff and the police “misbehaved with us and abused us.”

Mujeeb Ur Rehman, an advocate who represents the Tablighi Jamaat, told NewsClick: "The government’s main aim is to target Muslims. Recently, a pregnant woman died at a quarantine centre after she was refused a visit to the hospital despite having spent more than 40 days at the shelter and after testing negative for COVID-19 negative," he added, saying that the organisation would move the Delhi High Court against the “atrocity” soon.