Mumtaz Alam | India Tomorrow

NEW DELHI, APRIL 29— Tablighi Jamaat members, who have been cured of Coronavirus, are happily donating their blood plasma at different quarantine centres in Delhi for past some days. At the Sultanpuri quarantine centre, over 100 Tablighi members were seen standing in queue till late night on Tuesday to sign up for donation. Around one dozen of them were able to donate their blood plasma yesterday.

After donating the plasma, many of them shared their experience and feeling. All are filled with happiness and enthusiasm to donate their blood plasma to save the humanity and help the country.

 Hashmuddin Ansari from Ranchi, Jharkhand

“Islam and our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) have taught us that the purpose of our life is to benefit the humanity. Leave aside blood, if needed we are ready to sacrifice our life for our country, our brothers and people of our country. We are always ready for it. That’s why we donated blood plasma today,” said a Tablighi member Hashmuddin Ansari.

Ansari, who hails from Ranchi in Jharkhand, further said: “Our government and our Hazrat ji (Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad) asked us for the donation. We felt very happy while donating our blood plasma. We hope this will help more and more people. We are ready for more sacrifice if needed. We are ready to serve our country in every way.”

Ansari and hundreds like him are the same people who were called names by media and politicians for the past one month and charged for ‘deliberately’ spreading Coronavirus in the country.  

On March 30-31, over 2,000 people were evacuated from Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi and were taken to hospitals or quarantine centres and hundreds of them were later found to be infected with Coronavirus. There were many foreigners in the Markaz congregation held in the last week of March.

In the last two weeks, hundreds of Tablighi members have been cured of Coronavirus and after the government’s call and instruction from their chief Maulana Saad they are happily donating their blood plasma to save critical patients of Coronavirus.

“We are donating plasma with hope that other patients will get cured. Our Hazrat ji instructed us to donate plasma for the government and the nation. We all are donating plasma to save the humanity from this epidemic. It is our responsibility,” said Mohammad Ibrahim at the Sultanpuri quarantine centre. He comes from Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

Ibrahim was admitted at Rajiv Gandhi Specialty Hospital on March 28. After cure and discharge, he was brought to the Sultanpuri centre on April 20.

There are around 750 people at the Sultanpuri centre. Almost all are Tablighi people. Around 150 of them were infected but now cured and discharged. They hail from different parts of the country.

Jabbar Hasan comes from Haridwar in Uttarakhand. He also donated plasma on Tuesday. “I am happy that my plasma will help somebody, anyone among human beings.”

Mohammad Abbas from Sagar district in Madhya Pradesh said: “I am donating plasma for the humanity. If someone gets cured with my plasma, Allah will be happy with me.” He was treated at LNJP hospital in Delhi.

Mohammad Murtuza from Madhubani district in Bihar said: “I have donated plasma to help others with my body. I am happy that someone’s life will be saved with my plasma.”

Salimuddin from Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh said: “It will be great and I will be fortunate if someone gets cured with my plasma. With that intention I have donated my plasma.”

He had gone to Nizamuddin Markaz on March 21 and was brought to hospital on March 29 and from there to quarantine centre on April 20.

Mohammad Sharfuddin Shaikh Siddiqui, from Port Blair, Andaman

“It is our responsibility to save those who are sick and help the country, that is why I am donating my plasma. I am fine and feeling happy after donating plasma and asking my colleagues to do the same,” said Mohammad Sharfuddin Shaikh Siddiqui, resident of Port Blair in Andaman.

He was brought to the Sultanpuri centre on April 19 after getting treated and discharged from LNJP. He was brought to the hospital from Markaz Nizamuddin on March 29.

“We are not feeling any problem here, medical team and police team are cooperating with us,” he said.

After the end-March Nizamuddin tragedy, all hell broke loose in TV studios with anchors and debaters getting fiercely engaged in hatemongering against Tablighi Jamaat and its members in particular and common Muslims in general. They foolishly blamed the Tablighi people for deliberately spreading the contagious disease in the country.

However, in its daily press briefing, the Union Health Ministry had on April 18 said that out of 14,378 positive cases of Coronavirus in the country by that day, 4,291 (29.84%) were linked to Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin Markaz congregation.

Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad had issued an appeal on April 22 asking the cured Tablighi members in particular and common Muslims in general “to come forward and show this act of kindness to humanity and help the society and government by donating blood plasma.”

Now We Want to Go Home, Government Should Help us

Many donors expressed their wish to go back to their homes and sought help of the government.

“I reached Nizamuddin Markaz on March 20, our return ticket was booked for March 25 but could not go due to the lockdown. I was taken to a quarantine centre on March 30. Elderly people were taken to hospital. I went to hospital to serve our elderly brothers. I remained at the hospital for 20 days at LNJP,” said Hashmuddin Ansari, who comes from Ranchi, and is at Sultanpuri quarantine centre. He donated blood plasma on Tuesday.

 Tablighi Jamaat members donated their blood plasma at Sultanpuri quarantine centre in New Delhi

“It has been long since I left home. My family is waiting for me. How can I go in this lockdown when neither buses nor trains are running?” he said.

Mohammad Ibrahim, who is from Chennai in Tamil Nadu, also said: “I want to go home. Government should help us.”

“My family is missing and I am missing them. My quarantine period is over. Everything is ok at this quarantine centre, yet family is worried about me. I don’t know why the government is keeping us here,” he said.

Haridwar resident Jabbar Hasan said: “Almost one month has passed, now I want to go back home.”

Mohammad Abbas from Madhya Pradesh said: “So many days have passed, I was first put in hospital and now in this quarantine centre, now I am missing my family. I went to Nizamuddin on March 20, was taken to LNJP on March 30 and was brought to the Sultanpuri centre on April 18.”