ISLAMABAD – The first two cases of coronavirus infection in the Gaza Strip,a war-shattered territory with a fragile health system, were confirmed overthe weekend in Palestinian men who attended a mass religious gathering 10days ago in Pakistan, according to an Islamabad-based Palestinian diplomat.
The diplomat, Ahmed Rabi, says the men were part of a two-day gatheringthat ended March 12 in eastern Pakistan. The gathering of the TablighiJamaat,linkglobal conservative Muslim missionary group, brought together tens ofthousands of Muslim preachers from some 80 countries and has raisedconcerns about the virus’ spread in Pakistan and beyond.
The group, founded nearly a century ago in India, has millions of followersand proselytizes around the world. Preachers on missions sleep in mosquesand make door-to-door visits.
A longtime Pakistani Tablighi Jamaat member, Arif Rana, said the gatheringwas canceled on March 12 because of rain — attendees sleep in theopen. But AzharMashwani, link onthe Punjab chief minister’s staff, said on Twitter that it ended because ofcoronavirus fears. Most attendees were Pakistani, but at least a fewthousand came from other countries, Rana told NPR.Article continues after sponsor message
In Pakistan, four people in the southern province of Sindh who attended thegathering were infected with the virus, the provincial government reported.Other Pakistani provinces do not provide a detailed breakdown ofcoronavirus cases, so the national number may be higher.
Five preachers from Kyrgyzstan stayed in a mosque in Islamabad afterattending the Tablighi Jamaat gathering and have also tested positive, saida senior health official who did not want to be named because he was notauthorized to speak to the press.
On Twitter, Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat, the deputy commissioner of Islamabad,accused the Kyrgyz group of “criminal carelessnesslink” because “theyknew that one of them had symptoms and they kept on roaming around.”
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Concerns have also been raised in Southeast Asia about infection after aTablighi Jamaat gathering outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in late Februaryand early March. Malaysian media reported thatlinkmorethan half of the country’s known coronavirus cases were traced to thegathering. Preachers who attended also spread the virus to Brunei andThailand, the New York Times reported, saying the gathering created “thelargest known viral vector in Southeast Asia.”link
Tablighi Jamaat leaders in Pakistan had dismissed earlier calls by thePunjab provincial government to cancel their event, saying they believedthose calls were motivated by anti-religious bias.
“Every other year, something or other happens which makes people afraid ofgetting together,” Rana said. “We just focus on action, on deeds, and Allahprotects.”
Now, he said, for the first time in the group’s history, they werecurtailing activities such as weekly meetings, “until thing[s get] better.”
BY: Diaa Hadid
