Uttarakhand BJP MLA gives communal advice to fight coronavirus

Following the “Islamophobic” outburst on social media platforms and other means of communication over the presence of a large number of persons at Tablighi Jamaat Markaz at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, many of whom contracted dreaded ‘Corona virus’ infection, a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator from Uttarakhand has come up with his intended anti-Muslim advisory to the people of the state to avoid ‘Coronavirus’.

Mahendra Bhatt, BJP legislator from Badrinath assembly segment, in a facebook post has advised the people that the danger of coronavirus has increased due to Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin. He advised the people of Uttarakhand not to buy vegetables from Najibabad and also to enquire from which shop they are buying and from whom they are buying vegetables.

He further asked the people to buy vegetables from the farmers of Uttarakhand only. In a veiled reference to Muslims without naming them he asked the people to think before going to the shops of barbers and shoemakers and check whether there is coronavirus or not. Finally he asks that what is this Markaz?

It is important to note here that a large number of barber shops and salons are run by Muslims in the Garhwal hills.

Meanwhile, Suryakant Dhasmana, vice-president of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee has condemned the statement. He said that the BJP and its’ media cell have been trying to deflect the attention from the failures of the central as well as state governments of the BJP in its fight against Coronavirus and are now trying to give it a communal angle. “It is every unfortunate and deplorable,” he said.