Even as the number of persons tested positive for coronavirus touched 28 by Thursday evening and two persons succumbing to the pandemic (one each in Madurai and Kanyakumari), the activities of religious preachers from other countries is causing worries to security officials in Tamil Nadu. The cause of death of person in Kanyakumari district is yet to be ascertained and the health Minister’s office is tight lipped about the incident.
The 28 persons who have been admitted to hospitals in Chennai, Madurai, Salem and Erode include four Indonesian and two Thailand citizens. These six persons are in the State for religious preaching. They have been indoctrinating the faithful about
Tablighi Jamaat (Society for Spreading Faith), ‘an organization urging Muslims to return to practicing their religion as it existed during the lifetime of Prophet Mohammed’, according to State Police officials.
The Indonesians reached Salem in the first week of March from New Delhi by Kerala Express and since then they have been proselytizing in the districts of Salem, Madurai and Erode. The person who died on Wednesday, an office bearer of a local mosque management committee , had accompanied the Indonesians during their engagements in Madurai.
TG Vinay, Madurai district collector, told reporters that the health department officials are tracking the persons who had met the Indonesians and the Madurai man during congregations and social gatherings to collect samples from them for testing.
The secret visits undertaken by the foreign preachers belonging to TJ have taken security agencies by surprise. The organization was in the news recently when they held an ‘international mass religious gathering’ in the last week of February 2020 at Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia where more than 700 COVID- 19 cases have been reported. There is total secrecy associated with the TJ gatherings.
“What we know is that the Indonesians and Thai nationals have been addressing congregations in various mosques in these districts. Since outsiders are not allowed during these meetings, we do not know what kind of sermonizing is happening during these religious classes. It could be anything ranging from interpretation of Quran to encouraging the Muslims to fight the CAA,” said a senior intelligence official.
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity, disclosed that monitoring of congregations in temples across the State was not at all a problem.
“But mosques and churches are a different class as we can never infiltrate into the religious gatherings inside these places. The concerned Government agency is yet to make any probe into the activities of these proselitizers ,” he said.
The statement regarding the number of Corona Virus patients admitted to various hospitals in the State were disclosed by Dr C Vijaya Baskar, Tamil Nadu Minister for Health.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy who held a day long meeting in the secretariat on Thursday with ministers, senior bureaucrats and district collectors later made a passionate plea to the people of the State to cooperate with the administration in its war on Corona.
“I am addressing you not as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu but as a member of your family. Do not get panic as the total lock down has been declared for your own safety and security. The State administration is doing all it can do to make your stay in indoors a comfortable life. Maintenance of social distancing is the only option to prevent the spread of Corona, said the chief minister taking a cue from the Prime Minister’s address to the nation on Wednesday evening.
The chief minister said all arrangements have been made to provide free ration and essential items to people in the lower strata of the society.