Is the Hindustan Times Hiding the True Background of the Tablighi Jamaat?
- In Current Affairs
- 08:52 AM, Apr 11, 2020
- Kaal Chiron
By tracking travelers, India suppressed the COVID-19 pandemic from early spreading. However, per an IIM study [1], the mid-March Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) meeting in Nizamuddin, Delhi may cause 150,000 cases by May. Police and medical staff attempting to bring in TJ attendees for testing and possible quarantine, were reportedly met with abuse, stone-pelting, stabbings, and obscene behavior. These reports, seen worldwide, have generated dismay and focused curiosity. Several articles have appeared [2-5]. A legal notice [6] demanding INR 1 crore has been filed against TimesOnline claiming hurt feelings by a TJ member. Such acts may chill free discussion and distinctions between the TJ and the larger community. One point to note is that the TJ is a worldwide body. Though with origins in undivided British India, the “modern” version has been called “Pakistan’s Tablighi Jamaat”.
The Hindustan Times published an OpEd by Avinash Mohanney [7, also referenceHT], described as retired DGP, Sikkim with experience in the Indian Intelligence Bureau. At first reading it condemns the Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) for its recent actions. It was very timely. Their February event in Raiwind near Lahore Pakistan, was cancelled after 250,000 showed up, so the TJ was well aware of the COVID-19 threat before the Nizamuddin meeting with over 2000 foreign attendees.
On the surface, the HT OpEd was commendable in condemning the poor judgement of the TJ in declaring that everything was in Divine hands. Many Indians who have already forgotten the Kargil War, will have no recollection of the 1990s when Pakistan was building up its terror infrastructure.
Below we compare [7] with two well-researched references. One [8, also SATP] is by the late Shri B. Raman, who retired reputedly as an assistant head of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The article was one of several done on the Pakistani terrorist enterprise, and the second on the Tablighi Jamat. It is still at the South Asia Terrorism Portal set up by the late Shri K.P.S. Gill, former DGP Punjab. This version of the article is from 2001 but the original appeared in 1999.
The second article is by Burton and Stewart of the STRATFOR strategic affairs think tank in the USA [9, also STRATFOR], and is dated January 23, 2008, recent enough for the events described there to have been seen by people of Shri Mohanney’s class. This builds on a well-referenced article by Alexiev [10] of the Washington DC-based Center for Security Policy from 2005.
The table below compares the pictures of the TJ presented by SATP, STRATFOR and HT. The reader can judge. To us it appears that the real intent of the HT OpEd is to whitewash the real nature and history of the TJ. Perhaps Indians should ask why. The SATP, STRATFOR and [10] warn that TJ is a clear and present danger to India’s and the world’s security. The description is suggestive of those behind the so-called “Al Qeda” as well as the “ISIS/ISIL” while of course maintaining “plausible deniability” as expected. We note that the acts of members trained by TJ may not be acts of the organization itself, just as the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia distance themselves from the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Osama Bin Laden and the 9/11/2001 and November 2008 terrorists.
HT completely ignores this history and paints a picture of a set of ignorant but peaceful people steeped in superstition. To reconcile this apparent attempt to misinform and mislead Indians, Mr. Mohanney or the HT’s editors should at minimum provide the original draft of Mr. Mohanney’s article, to determine where the coverup occurred. Did HT have representatives at the TJ meets at Raiwind and/or Nazeemuddin? Are there other links that have not been disclosed? Did HT get threatened like TimesOnline did?
The Indian public should ask. The lives that they save may be their own, and those of their near and dear ones.
REFERENCES
[1] Arun Anand: “IIM study predicts 1.5 lakh Covid-19 cases by May first week as ‘result of Tablighi event’. “ The PRINT, April 8, 2020
[2] Mirza Arif Beg: “Communal Corona? Is it justified to blame Tablighi Jamaat for Nizamuddin Outbreak?”OUTLOOK, March 31, 2020
[3] Anon: “Pakistan Quarantines 20,000 Following Tabligh Gathering in Lahore”. Al Jazeera, April 6, 2020
[4] Vasudha Venugopal: “Tablighi faction had put on hold events on March 6” Economic Times.
[5] Akash Bisht & Sadiq Naqvi: “How Tablighi Jamaat event became India's worst coronavirus vector”. Al Jazeera, April , 2020
[6] Radhika Roy: “Tabligh Member Sends Legal Notice To Bennett Coleman Ltd for Times Now Article Alleging That Jamaat Has Links With Terror Outfits” LiveLaw, April 6, 2020.
[7] Avinash Mohananey: Not in God’s hands: Why Tabligh Jamaat’s actions are indefensible. April 6, 2020
[8] Raman, B., Dagestan: Focus on Pakistan’s Tablighi Jamaat. South Asia Terrorism Portal, 2001.
[9] Fred Burton and Scott Stewart: Tablighi Jamaat: An Indirect Line to Terrorism. Security Weekly, STRATFOR, January 23, 2008
[10] Alex Alexiev: “Tablighi Jamaat: Jehad’s Stealthy Legions”. Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005, pp. 3-11
HINDUSTAN TIMES HIDING TABLIGHI JAMAAT TERROR LINKS?
Ref: HT: Avinash Mohananey: Not in God’s hands: Why Tabligh Jamaat’s actions are indefensible. April 6, 2020
SATP: Raman, B., Dagestan: Focus on Pakistan’s Tablighi Jamaat. 2001.
STRATFOR: Fred Burton and Scott Stewart: Tablighi Jamaat: An Indirect Line to Terrorism. January 23, 2008
Header Pic: Medical staff flee stone-pelting attack. Indore March 2020. Image credit: Twitter video.
Acknowledgements – several passionate members at https://forums.bharat-rakshak.com
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