Muslims deserve at least an apology from govt: Demand attracts support

New Delhi: After a Delhi Court verdict which acquitted 36 foreigners who were falsely implicated for allegedly violating Covid 19 and visa norms, an apology is being widely demanded towards the Tabligh Jamaat organization and Muslim community.

The demand has garnered support from various corners including mainstream medias to important Muslim organisations.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Saket Court, Arun Kumar Garg strongly admonished the Station House Officer of Hazrat Nizamuddin Inspector Mukesh Walia, for insensitive way of identification of the accused and observed that the prosecution failed to "prove the presence of accused inside the Markaz premises."

Following the judgement, The Indian Express in its editorial titled "Say Sorry", called upon the government to "apologise to those it had wrongly accused and tainted."

The editorial noted that earlier the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court had criticized the "scapegoating" of Tabligh Jamaat workers for the pandemic. The editorial asked the government to revisit the court's message which said: It is now time to repent this action and take positive steps to repair the damage.

The editorial drew ample response across the nation after the same was widely circulated through social media.

Prominent journalist Rana Ayyub tagged the newspaper clipping and said that not only the organization, the entire community that have been demonized owed an apology.

"Not just the govt, our media including 'well meaning' liberals need to hang their heads in shame." Rana wrote.

Sharing Rana's post, student activist Sharjeel Usmani asked on Twitter who was going to compensate the extreme mental & physical torture Muslims had had to go through during the criminalization, dehumanization of Tabligh Jamaat.

"One person committed suicide because of these vilifications, many were forced to shut down businesses. Sorry is not enough!" the activist wrote.

Popular Front of India Chairman O M A Salam also demanded an apology from the central government, Delhi state government, Delhi police and the sections of media for spreading fake news.

"The observation by the court that they were possibly picked up by the order of Home Ministry to maliciously prosecute points to serious situation,"

"The apology is owed both to Tablighi Jamaat and Muslim community," the statement reads.

Several other writers, activists and intellectuals shared the need of a reparative measure from the government.

See a tweet by writer Zainab Sikander Siddiqui: