Namita Bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: While the Ghaziabad district administration has been asked to invoke

the National Security Act (NSA) against six Tablighi Jamaat members on Friday after they were booked for misbehaviour and acts of obscenity towards the nursing

staff of MMG district hospital, the culprits have been shifted to Raj Kumar

Goel Institute of Technology and quarantined.

Taking strong note of the incident, UP CM Yogi Adityanath condemned it as an

‘unpardonable crime’ and also issued directives to the authorities concerned

not to depute any female nursing or police staff in the isolation wards where

Tablighi Jamaat members were quarantined across the state hospitals.

Moreover, the stringent NSA would also be slapped on people who attack

policeman enforcing the lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the Uttar Pradesh government said on Friday. The state government's move to invoke the NSA comes in view of reports of several incidents of attacks on policemen

enforcing the lockdown.



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Notably, an FIR was lodged against the six Jamaatis quarantined at MMG district

hospital of Ghaziabad late on Thursday night following a written complaint lodged by hospital Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) Dr Ravindra Singh accusing

the Jamaatis of indulging in obscenity and making lewd gestures at nurses and

female para-medical staff of the hospital.

After the hospital's complaint to the police, CM Yogi ordered the authorities to

book them under the tough law -- NSA-- that allowed detention without charges

for up to a year if the accused were seen to threaten public order. They would be

sent to jail after completing the quarantine period.

"They will not follow the law, nor will they accept orders. They are enemies of

humanity. What they have done with women healthcare providers is a heinous

crime. We are invoking the National Security Act against them. We will not spare

them," Yogi Adityanath said.

All the six Jamaatis had attended the meeting at Nizamuddin and were brought to MMG hospital on March 31 and quarantined. One of them has already tested positive for the deadly virus.

The six Jamaatis were booked under Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 294 (Any obscene act in any public place, or sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place), 269 (Intent to spread the infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 & 271 (Any malignant act to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

CMS Dr Ravindra Singh, in his complaint, had accused the group of harassing the

women staff by roaming without trousers, humming filthy songs and refusing

to follow the isolation rules. “When confronted, they used expletives and laughed off instructions for social distancing,” said Dr Singh.

Meanwhile, similar reports of harassment of medical staff by Jamaatis have been

trickling in from different districts of UP.

While 10 jamatis were booked in Lakhimpur Kheri for offering prayers in a mosque

despite the lockdown, in Kannauj, a mob of 30 attacked police personnel who

had gone to disperse them from a house where they had herded to offer namaz on

Friday. Two cops sustained serious injuries in the scuffle.

Similarly, in Kanpur, while being in quarantine at Halet and Ursala hospitals, 31

Jamaatis littered their isolation wards with garbage and violated the norms

of social distancing to offer namaz together in one ward. Consequently, they all

were shifted to Naraina Medical College where their number has gone up to

56.

A curious case of violation of restrictions surfaced in Agra, where Jamatis

quarantined at Madhu resort created a ruckus seeking beef biryani. They claimed

that food being served to them was tasteless and that they were being

quarantined under a conspiracy.

Similar reports emerged in Balrampur and Aligarh where they refused to cooperate

with the medical staff while being in isolation. In Aligarh, they attacked the police party and resorted to stone pelting while being taken for isolation.