As the number of positive COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the country and the needle of suspicion and blame is pointed towards Tablighi Jamaat, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has expressed a different view.
In a televised appeal to the people of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday evening Reddy said, “It is not correct to pin the blame on a particular religious congregation for the spread of COVID-19 in the country.”
“The same could have happened even in any such meetings in any other religious congregation anywhere in the country,” Reddy added.
He further said some persons from Andhra Pradesh went to the religious congregation in Nizamuddin, which was also attended by a number of foreign nationals.
“Some of the persons who attended the congregation were infected and from them, it spread to others and gradually it spread across the country,” Reddy said.
“Whatever happened there was unfortunate, but it does not mean that the spread of the disease should be attributed to the congregation,” the CM added.
He further mentioned that not just in New Delhi, but religious congregations were also held elsewhere by Ravi Shankar, Jaggi Vasu Dev, Mata Amritanandamayi, Paul Dinakaran and John Wesley.
He said that there was no reason to discriminate against the Tablighis as the spread of the virus was unintentional.
“The spread of the virus was not predetermined and we should not discriminate against those people,” Reddy said.
“It is unfair to blame one community for the spread of the virus,” Reddy reiterated.