Gayathri Mani By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Soon after the controversy erupted over presence of large gathering at the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat, a website named —www.delhimarkaz.com has removed a couple of audio clips of alleged speeches of Muhammad Saad Kandhlwi, head of the body, on the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The clips had alleged that the reports of novel coronavirus spread is a conspiracy against Muslims and Islam to dissuade faithful from coming to mosques.

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The title of clips, which are not available on the websites were ‘Jab Police Wala Markaz Mai Musafa Karne Se Mana Karne Aaya’ (When the policemen came to stop us from handshake), ‘Bimari to ek bahana hai’ (Disease is just an excuse), ‘Bimari hajj bhi Chuddwayegi’ (Disease will make us to skip pilgrimage), ‘Chhoone se nahi, is wajah se felti hai ye bimari’ (The disease is not spread by touching, but for this reason) and several others.

In one of the audio clips still available on its websites, the preacher said, "All the works are done by Allah be it good or bad. Allah is the saviour and destroyer. Muslims should not stop praying, namaaz, and going to masjid. If you do so, Allah will punish you more. At present, Allah is angry with everyone and to end his anger, we all should go to masjid and prey with precautions."

The other clip titled – ‘Musalmano k andar corona ka khauf’ (The fear of coronavirus among Muslims) says, "If anyone dies after visiting the mosque, what could be better than this, which could be the better place to die while serving the god ..."

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Mushrraf Ali Khan, a member of the committee of Markaz and an advocate by profession however said that the website is not an official portal of the Jamaat. "This is not an authentic website. The audio is recorded and posted by individuals. People come to Markaz and some records the speeches. These videos can be fake and may create controversy," he said.

The website has also a Facebook page and YouTube channel with the same name, which has been subscribed by thousands users.

