Clerics, leaders urge people to fall in line

Sarfaraz Ahmed | TNN | Apr 6, 2020, 04:13 IST

Nagpur: Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) health officials reached out to clerics, elders and intellectuals from the community when they faced resistance from locals in Mominpura’s Takia where corona containment drive started on Sunday morning.
Tablighi Jamaat Markaz secretary Abdul Bari Patel was probably the first to get a call from officials as the seminary office is located in the same area. “I asked imams of a couple of Masjids to appeal to people to cooperate,” he said.
Patel said former corporator Siraj Ahmed, Jamiat Ulema Hind president Masood Ahmed, its secretary Javed Akhtar, Bamcef’s Hafiz Ashraf and Dr Sarfaraz Ahmed went around dispelling apprehensions about the drive.
“We came to know that rumour mongering videos about the drive had gone viral. We will recommend strict action against people who spread such videos. Now, we are making videos to create awareness about the drive,” Bari said.
Bari said fake news about administration will not be tolerated. Dr Ahmed said the residents were misinformed that it was NPR exercise.
“Since new people came, they didn’t understand what was going around. These people are not aware how serious the disease is. Our videos will create awareness. We have appealed to them to cooperate,” he said.
Dr Ahmed said Muslim elders had been creating awareness among people and asking them to stay indoors. “We were successful in asking people to pray at home and not at masjids. We hope they will understand now too,” he said.