The Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin has accounted for a little over 30 per cent of the total number of COVID-19 cases in India, according to an Indian Express report.
So far, India has recorded 3,500-plus cases, with over 1,000 of them coming from the gathering at Nizamuddin.
The cases have come from 17 states and Union Territories — Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Assam, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
On Thursday, 544 people were tested positive for the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Of these, 65 per cent belonged to the Tablighi Jamaat group.
The Tabhighi Jamaat was event held in Delhi's Nizamuddin earlier this month, even as officials asked people to avoid mass congregations, has had a problematic ending. Many of the attendees have since tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and some of them have passed away.
On Wednesday an undated audio clip emerged, purportedly of Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad Khandhlawi encouraging people to gather in mosques.
"If you think you will die if you assemble in a masjid, let me tell you, there is no better place to die," he had said at the time. Lamenting the fact that people "can't even pray", he had added that "they" wanted people to stop praying so that it wouldn't add to their difficulties.
"We will only accept that doctor's advice who follows the path of Allah and fears the almighty," he declared. However, even such a doctor would be ignored if he gave them similar advice, he had declared.
But with thousands of followers in quarantine, and many others testing positive for the virus, Saad appears to have had a change of heart.
In a new video he asks followers to listen to officials and self-quarantine themselves. Not only that, he now appears to believe that staying at home is the "only way to calm God's wrath".
"One should follow the advice of doctors and cooperate with the administration. Wherever our members are, they should follow the administration's orders," he said.
