A gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic missionary group in Delhi in early March has been considered as a 'super spreader' of the coronavirus in India.
The Union health ministry had stated on April 18 that 29.8 per cent of the coronavirus cases in India as of that date were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event. The Tablighi Jamaat event has given rise to incidents of Islamophobia and prejudice in many parts of the country and also overseas.
On Sunday, Sohan Roy, the CEO of Aries Group of Companies, apologised for "unintentionally hurting religious sentiments" through a poem written by him. Aries Group of Companies has interests in the maritime sector and is headquartered in Sharjah. Roy, a native of Kerala, founded the Aries Group in 1998. Roy is also a poet and had directed DAM 999, a science fiction film released in 2011.
Recently, Roy had released a poem in Malayalam titled Viddi Janman (fool's life). The Gulf News, a UAE-based newspaper, reported that the poem alluded to the coronavirus outbreak and translated its lines as saying, "“When religious thoughts blind men and put hurdles on the path, When the preacher teaches ignorance. When we have to build walls to stop the germs, those idiots are spreading them by creating divisions.”
While the poem did not mention any religious community, the visuals of the poem showed a stereotypical image of a Muslim preacher leading "blindfolded men wearing kurta pyjama and skull caps", the Gulf News reported. Many people alleged the poem was alluding to the Tablighi Jamaat event.
Roy told Gulf News that the visuals were an "honest mistake" of his graphics designer, based in Kerala.
“There was no malicious intent. It was an honest mistake. That said, I take full responsibility of what has happened. I am sorry if I have unknowingly hurt any religious sentiments. I don’t want to be dragged into a controversy. As soon as I realised that people had been offended, I did a Facebook Live video and apologised,” Roy told Gulf News. Roy removed the poem from his social media handles.
Roy told Gulf News, "I don’t harbour ill feelings against any community. My poem takes a dig at religious heads who have made a mockery of lockdown restrictions in India. These preachers are not necessarily Muslims because there have been several mass gatherings in Hindu temples too."
Roy told Khaleej Times, another UAE-based media publication, that his 90,000 sq.fet house in Kerala had been given as an isolation centre. He also claimed to have donated 10 ventilators to the Kerala government.
The controversy involving Roy comes after a UAE businesswoman, Sheikha Hend Al Qassimi, called out Islamophobic tweets by some Indian handles and warned, "Anyone that is openly racist and discriminatory in the UAE will be fined and made to leave."
Responding to tweets that claimed the Tablighi Jamaat participants spat at people, Sheikha Hend Al Qassimi noted, "The ruling family is friends with Indians, but as a royal your rudeness is not welcome. All employees are paid to work, no one comes for free. You make your bread and butter from this land which you scorn."