Venkatesh Prasanna arrests two more suspects in Malleswaram blast case

Lucknow, Apr 13: Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are now worried that the intense communal profiling of the Corona patients by the official agencies could lead to lynching incidents once the lockdown is lifted.

Muslim scholar and former SP spokesman, Abdul Hafiz Gandhi, on Monday said, "The manner in which the government agencies are identifying persons belonging to Tablighi Jamaat in the list of Covid-19 patients is now translating into intense communal profiling which has been prohibited by the World Health Organization and the central government. A very small percentage of Muslims subscribe to the Tablighi Jamaat ideology but the impression going around is that the Muslim community, in general, is spreading coronavirus."

He said that there was a strong possibility of Muslims, in general, being attacked after the lockdown is lifted.

"This is exactly what happened on the cow slaughter issue. Even a small rumour led to people being lynched by mobs across the country. Corona is a pandemic and should be treated like one. We should fight against the virus together instead of creating a communal divide. Every day, the government spokesman lays down the number of Corona positive cases and then goes on to say how many of them are from Tablighi Jamaat," he explained.

Amir Haider, a social activist and also a veteran Congress leader, echoed similar sentiments when he said, "We strongly condemn the Tablighi Jamaat for ignoring the protocols and holding the congregation but why is the state government repeatedly harping on the religious angle. Shia and Sunni clerics are repeatedly asking the people to adhere to government guidelines and follow safety protocols.

He said that efforts to create a communal divide on the corona issue could have dangerous ramification after the lockdown is lifted."

A retired IAS officer, who did not wish to be named, said, that people have already started objecting to taking home deliveries from Muslim employees.

"My neighbours refused to take delivery of groceries from a Muslim boy. This is just the beginning of the narrative that is being drilled into the minds. We must check this before it explodes into something very dangerous," he said.

Mysuru, Mar 3: Three leopard cubs were rescued by a team of Forest Department in Mysuru on Tuesday.

The cubs were found in a sugarcane field and came into notice of a farmer while cutting the sugarcane.

The villagers alerted the forest department which rescued the three cubs.

Udupi, Jul 20: Five COVID Day Care Centres have been opened here on Monday with combined 870 bed for asymptomatic Covid-19 patients.

The Centres are set up at Karkala (1), Udupi (3) and Kundapura (1). Presently more than 100 patients are being treated in these Centres.

These Centres have been opened in the wake of high incidences of Covid-19 cases in the district. They are set up for asymptomatic patients who do not wish to be treated at home.