The CPI(M) condemned the campaign in social media to communalise the fight against COVID-19. Its Polit Bureau said in a statement here that it was irresponsible on the part of the Tablighi Jamaat to have organised a meeting in mid-March when restrictions had already been imposed on gatherings. But how the authorities allowed a second gathering on March 20 and 21 was inexplicable.
“The CPI(M) condemns the efforts and the campaign in social media to give this a communal colour and to target a community. The coronavirus does not differentiate on the basis of religion. All efforts to communalise the issue must be rebuffed,” the statement said. Such an attempt, it said, would only undermine India’s early triumph in containing the spread of the virus.
Not only Tablighi Jamaat but also all big gatherings that had taken place in many parts of the country after the March 13 order went out to prohibit assembly of over 200 people must be investigated, the party said.
India must learn from South Korea and Singapore in tracing all participants of large congregations, isolating them after testing and containing the community spread of the virus. “India today has a very low testing rate — 241 times lower than that in South Korea. This must be rectified urgently,” the CPI(M) said.
