Harmony during hardship

Kerala containing Tablighi Jamaat-linked cases without communal castigation

40-mosque Safety measure: A mosque in Malappuram, Kerala, is disinfected after it was discovered that two people who had been there had earlier attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference | Sameer A. Hameed

A few hours after Anwar Ali (name changed), 36, returned to his house in Malappuram district in Kerala, he had unannounced visitors—a team of doctors and nurses, a panchayat member, an ASHA worker, an ustad (teacher) from the local madrassa and two policemen in plain clothes. All of them wore masks.

Ali was sleeping, tired after travel from Delhi where he had attended a meeting of the Tablighi Jamaat. His wife and mother panicked on seeing the visitors, but the familiar faces of the ustad, the panchayat member and the ASHA worker calmed them. The ustad told them the reason for the visit. They were hearing about Covid-19 for the first time. The doctors explained the risks involved and said Ali would be kept isolated in a hospital for a minimum of 28 days. The family members were asked to quarantine themselves in the house and to contact the doctors if any symptoms showed up.

The chief minister repeatedly warned against giving a communal tinge to the crisis, thus winning the confidence of the Muslims. The media, too, showed  restraint in reporting.

The panchayat member assured Ali that his family would get provisions at their doorstep. Both the ASHA worker and the panchayat member shared their phone numbers with the family and assured all support. Ali, who was in the Middle East for a decade and is now a driver, was taken to the isolation centre in the Government Medical College, Kozhikode, for tests. Though asymptomatic, he has been kept in quarantine and has tested negative repeatedly. Ali would now be able to go back home.

This has been the story of almost everyone from Kerala who attended the Jamaat event. As per the government data, 200 Keralites attended the gathering this year. But, luckily, only 80 attended the last session—a couple of days before the lockdown. This session had a large number of foreigners who, it is believed, were carriers. The 80 who attended this session have been quarantined at various hospitals in the state; three have tested positive so far. Their family members are also in quarantine.

Kerala could quarantine all 80 attendees while other participants of the Jamaat meeting were leaving a trail of infections and deaths from Kashmir to the Andamans to Tamil Nadu. A senior government officer in charge of quarantining the attendees said timely intelligence input had helped in the effort, besides the efficiency of the state machinery, from the chief minister to panchayat members and the medical team.

He said the chief minister called up Muslim religious heads and explained to them the gravity of the matter. Islamic scholars and clerics, in turn, persuaded the attendees and their families to be quarantined. The fact that the state had a relatively low number of cases could have helped, he added.

The chief minister repeatedly warned against giving a communal tinge to the crisis, thus winning the confidence of the Muslims. The media, too, showed  restraint in reporting. “Had they been cornered or criticised, as in many other states, the attendees might have gone into hiding. It would have spread the infection further,” said the officer.

“That Kerala, unlike other states, successfully stopped the spread of Covid-19 from the Tablighi [event] attendees is, in fact, a matter of pride,” said Dr Joy Elamon, director, Kerala Institute of Local Administration. “Our efficient police system, robust primary health structures, and informed and empowered local self-governance mechanism played a crucial role.” 

TAGS