SOURCE: HT
The Indian government has alerted envoys of several South and Southeast Asian countries whose nationals violated visa regulations to attend a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi that has emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot, people familiar with developments said on Wednesday.
Action will be taken under India’s regulations and laws against hundreds of foreign nationals who entered the country on tourist visas and joined the gathering at Tablighi Jamaat’s Markaz or headquarters in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
The Jamaat’s six-storey headquarters has emerged as the single biggest source of Covid-19 infections in the country, after being linked to at least eight deaths and 117 infections. Officials have said members who joined a gathering at the Markaz earlier this month had tested positive in New Delhi, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Kashmir.
“All the ambassadors of the concerned countries have been contacted and they’ve been informed about the position of various nationals who are involved in this [matter],” said a person who declined to be named.
The home ministry is taking action in close coordination with external affairs ministry, the people said.
“If there have been violations of the rules and laws of the land, appropriate action will be taken by relevant authorities,” said the person cited above.
According to a statement from the home ministry, as of March 21, there were 216 foreigners at the Jamaat’s Markaz and 824 more foreigners engaged in activities of the Jamaat in different parts of India. The home ministry directed state police forces to identify these 824 foreigners, medically screen and quarantine them.
A classified assessment by the home ministry, accessed by HT, said eight Indonesian nationals who were part of a Jamaat team tested positive for Covid-19 in Telangana. It also estimated some 2,000 foreigners from 70 nations, who all entered India on tourist visas, were “spread all over the country for Tabligh work”.
The assessment said a majority of them were from Bangladesh (493), Indonesia (472), Malaysia (150) and Thailand (142). The home ministry directed state authorities to immediately deport foreigners who test negative for Covid-19 by the “first available flights”.
Most foreign members of Tablighi Jamaat travel to India on tourist visas, and the people cited above said it is difficult to ascertain the purpose of visit of individual applicants, especially in the case of friendly countries such as Thailand and Indonesia for which visa regimes are relatively liberal. They said Jamaat members should apply for missionary or conference visas.
The home ministry has now said the external affairs ministry should advise foreign missions to refrain from granting tourist visas to foreigners “who are likely to use it for Tabligh activities”. It also said missions should check details such as place of stay in India, return tickets and financial means of applicants before granting tourist visas.
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