Mumbai (Maharashtra): The foreigner’s who attended a religious event at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz in the month of March were “virtually” persecuted and were blamed for spreading the pandemic coronavirus as a part of their propaganda, the Aurangabad Bench of the Bombay High Court observed on Friday, dismissed all the cases filed against 29 foreigners under various sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC). It also commented that they were made “scapegoats” by the political governments.
More than Hundreds of people- both the foreigners and the locals were tested for the coronavirus after they attended the Tablighi Jamat event or had come in contact with the followers of the Islamic sect. The violation of Visa cases were also registered against the foreign nationals who had attended the congregation. The event had turned out to be biggest cluster in the country.
“There was a propaganda which ran in the electronic media and the print media against the foreigners who had been there in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz and an attempt was made to create a scenario that these foreigners were responsible for the spread of the pandemic coronavirus in India.”
“The running government in the central tries to find a scapegoat whenever there is any pandemic or a calamity and the consequences also show that there is probability that these foreigners were chosen as the scapegoats”, the court added.
The 29 foreigners were booked under the various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Disease Act and the Foreigners Act for allegedly violating their tourist visa by attending the Tablighi Jamat Congregation.
The court also said “that it is now the time for the responsible to regret about this action against the foreigners and must have to take positive steps to repair the damage caused by such actions.”
The court also said that visiting a religious place is not prohibited activity. During the situation of the pandemic, we need to be more tolerant and be more sensitive towards our guests, as the present petitioners. Instead of help, we lodged them into jails by making allegations for violating the travel documents and spreading the coronavirus.
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