Several prominent Muslims have come forward in Jalna in Maharashtra to get their community to drop some of its reported hesitancy to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Among them are Iqbal Pasha, a prominent local leader, Hafez Zubair, a cleric, and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Shaikh Mujeeb.
Pasha on Sunday said people would have to rely on science to tide over the pandemic, adding that getting vaccinated must be a decision as simple to make as going to a doctor to get medicines when one is unwell.
Zubair said he had been constantly telling people in his sermons that not getting vaccinated can lead to them infecting others.
The Jamaat-e-Islami's Mujeeb said his organisation was using social media to get people to drop their misconceptions about vaccination, while physician Sadat Khan claimed that, unfortunately, a lot of unverified theories floating on social media platforms was causing so much hesitancy among people about vaccination.
Incidentally, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, some days ago, started a 'Jaan Hai to Jahaan Hai' campaign involving state Haj committees, Waqf councils etc, to get people from the community to overcome their COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy.