Islamic preacher Ilyas Sharafuddin

Key Highlights 'Remember how they have threatened the Muslims and tried to destroy lives of 20 million Muslims' 'They thought that no one can challenge them, but Allah the most powerful punished them' Hubei is the epicentre of the virus and has reported 840 new confirmed cases

New Delhi: Controversial Muslim Cleric Ilyas Sharafuddin in a bizarre statement said that Allah has punished the Chinese by unleashing Coronavirus on them for their brutal crackdown on Uighur Muslims.

In an audio address, Ilyas called the viral outbreak as a punishment of Allah on China where people are dying everywhere.

“Remember how they have threatened the Muslims and tried to destroy lives of 20 million Muslims. Muslims were forced to drink alcohol, their mosques were destroyed and their Holy Book was burned. They thought that no one can challenge them, but Allah the most powerful punished them,” said Ilyas.

Remember Romans, Persian, and Russians who were arrogant and stood against Islam but all were destroyed by Allah, said Ilyas.

He further warned the right-wing outfits in India and calling them “Children of Godse” told them to refrain from attacking the Muslims.

China has unleashed a brutal campaign on the Uighur Muslims in the restive Xinjiang region with more than a million Muslims under detention in internment camps which Beijing calls “job-training centres” to tackle Islamic extremism.

Even after facing heavy international criticism and sanction by the United States, China has defended its action saying that job-training centres had been established to fight Islamic extremism in the region.

However, a set of documents leaked to the world media shows China’s ruling Communist Party in under Xi Jinping administration has been persecuting Uighurs Muslims.

More than 400 pages of internal Chinese documents shared by The New York Times highlighted the unprecedented crackdown on the ethnic minorities.

Meanwhile, the deadly coronavirus has wreaked havoc in China with 25 new deaths reported from central Hubei province, taking the death toll to 132 and the confirmed infection cases to nearly 6,000. Meanwhile, health experts have warned that the epidemic may reach its peak in the next 10 days resulting in large-scale casualties.

The experts are further speculating that the virus has mutated. Chinese medical experts have said that coronavirus can be passed between humans through close contact.

The Chinese health authorities today confirmed 5,974 cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus that has been reported in 31 provincial-level regions with China's National Health Commission in its daily report said that 1,239 patients remained in critical condition and 9,239 people were suspected to be infected with the virus.

Hubei is the epicentre of the virus and has reported 840 new confirmed cases.

The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak may reach its peak in one week or around 10 days.