Stung by reports that attempts were being made to discriminate against Muslims by linking them to the spread of novel coronavirus in some districts, the Tamil Nadu police issued an alert to all commissioners and superintendents of police to take suo motu cognizance of the “inflammatory situation”. According to police sources, senior police officers across the State were told to initiate stringent action against those spreading “communal hatred”.
Acting on specific inputs that a common pathway was closed to prevent Muslims from entering a village in Tenkasi district and another instance where some families were asked to vacate their rented houses in Erode district, Tamil Nadu Director-General of Police J.K. Tripathy instructed the police officers to take firm action in consultation with the district administration and ensure communal amity, sources said.
At Panboli near Sengottai in Tenkasi district, a common pathway earlier used by Muslims was closed to prevent them from entering the village. Some Muslim families living in a “majority Caste Hindu” inhabitation near Perundurai in Erode were pressurised to vacate the houses. Similar situations were shape in Tirunelveli district, sources said.
The incidents followed media reports focussing on the link between the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi and the spread of coronavirus in Tamil Nadu. Since many COVID-19 patients were referred to as “Delhi returnees”, Hindus in some areas were trying to avoid Muslims, sources said.
“An incident has come to notice in a village near Perundurai, where three Muslim families in rented occupations were being forced to vacate and leave the village. Though they pleaded that they did not have any travel history or contact with Delhi returnees, the majority people are unrelenting…they (the Muslims) do not want to lodge a complaint and antagonise the locals,” a senior police officer told The Hindu .
The State intelligence sent out an alert cautioning the police that if the situation was not diffused at the earliest, it may snowball into a communal problem, paving the way for extremist elements to “interfere” and “inflame”.
Police were told to resolve the issue amicably and maintain communal harmony, the sources said, adding that the campaign to boycott fruits/vegetable shops owned by the Muslim community members was thwarted by effective coordination with leaders of religious groups.
