Like Maharashtra, Centre should’ve denied permission for Jamaat event, says Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday indirectly blamed the central government for allowing Tablighi Jamaat to hold its international congregation

Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Monday indirectly blamed the central government for allowing Tablighi Jamaat to hold its international congregation in Delhi. He said that permission for the event should have been denied in Delhi just like it was denied by the Maharashtra government.

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During a live Facebook interaction on Monday, Pawar said that timely action could have prevented the spurt of Covid-19 cases among people who participated in the gathering.

“The Tablighi Jamaat should not have organised the congregation in the first place. In Maharashtra too, a request was made to hold a congregation but state home minister Anil Deshmukh and chief minster [Uddhav Thackeray] discussed it and denied them permission. If the same concern was shown in Delhi, we would not have to see it repeatedly on television,” the NCP chief said.

“Is this an attempt to create a perception about a particular community and create a social divide? They wouldn’t have got that opportunity,” he added.

The veteran leader said that bull and horse races were organised in a village in Solapur recently, and thousands gathered there. The police started booking people as soon as they came to know of it. “If the same alertness was shown in Delhi, we wouldn’t have to see what is going on today,” Pawar said.

He stressed the country’s need to be united and refrain from causing animosity and social divide. “Reports on television and messages circulated on WhatsApp are of concern. After the investigation, it was found that four of every five messages were fake. It appears they are being sent to create confusion and misunderstandings,” Pawar said.