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CHENNAI: As the number of Covid-19 positive cases continues to surge in the Tablighi Jamaat cluster in Tamil Nadu, 133 foreign Muslim missionaries of the TJ group, some of who have tested positive, have come under the Union government's scanner. They are scattered across Tamil Nadu with some lodged in prisons for violating the Foreigners Act 1946 and the Disaster Management Act 2005. Close to 1,000 foreign missionaries of the TJ from across the globe have fanned out across the country as part of their religious mission since February.

Hailing from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, France, Ethiopia and Cameroon, besides the U S, these preachers have tested positive for Covid-19 and are in isolation wards or are kept under quarantine in private homes. The focus sharpened on the foreign missionaries after several among at least 3,000 TJ members from Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, who attended conferences at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz, the TJ headquarters in Delhi, tested positive for the virus.

The crackdown on the foreigners followed a directive from the ministry of home affairs on April 2 "blacklisting 960 foreigners, present in India on tourist visas, for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities". The MHA directed DGPs of all States/UTs to act against all such violators, on priority, under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

"We are scrutinizing their activities closely and checking if they have any motive other than their religious mission," said an intel source.

But, the pilgrimages to India are nothing new for the foreign Muslim missionaries. They have been undertaking such tours across the country for years to strengthen religious faith among Muslims.

On April 9, police picked up five French nationals, three from Cameroon, and one each from Belgium and Congo, from Needur village near Mayiladuthurai. Kadmar Rachid, a Tablighi Jamaat preacher from Lyon in France, told TOI from a hospital in Needur that he had arrived in Delhi on February 19 and reached Karaikal on February 23. "We visited a few mosques and interacted with Muslim families. They had already taken our sample and it was negative. They have detained us in this hospital and are not permitting us to leave," said Rachid.

"These pilgrimages are being organized every year for the past 80 years. Why is it suddenly a crime," asked Hafiz Mohammed Noorullah, Imam of a Tablighi Jamaat mosque in Chennai. This time, with the Covid-19 spotlight on them, the preachers have come under tighter scrutiny of the country's intelligence agencies. Among the missionaries are four couples from Ethiopia, with the women identified as members of the Masthoorath Jamaat, who are stuck in Kancheepuram.

"We have identified 80 foreign TJ missionaries. Our advocates are trying to help them," said Rahman Sheriff, an advocate attached to the United Welfare Organisation, which started a helpline to redress grievances of TJ members and their families caught in the viral storm.

