Sindh information minister appeals to Tableeghi Jamaat members to 'remain wherever they are'
April 04, 2020
KARACHI: Sindh Information Minister Nasir Shah on Friday appealed to the tableeghi jamaat members to "remain wherever they are" during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a video message, Shah said the country's people were "experiencing challenging times" owing to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which has infected over 800 people in the province and over 2,600 across Pakistan.
"I'm humbly requesting our respected elders, friends, and brothers who have arrived in our Sindh province to remain wherever they are and to completely adhere to the Sindh government's health advisory", the minister stated, referring to the provincial leadership's efforts to contain the pandemic.
He added that Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had issued special directives to the administrations to take care of the tableeghi jamaat members and "facilitate their necessities and health in every aspect and possible manner".
The minister also expressed his gratitude to prominent religious scholar Maulana Tariq Jameel, his peers, and various other ulemas for asking the tableeghi jamaat members to heed the provincial government's request.
Earlier in the day, CM Shah had said most of the over 4,500 tableeghi jamaat members who returned from Raiwind to Sindh tested positive for the coronavirus. He consequently directed deputy commissioners of various districts in the province to keep them in isolation.
According to the provincial government's statement, he also ordered that the families of the tableeghi jamaat members who had been diagnosed as positive, as well as "others with whom they have been in close contact, may also be kept in isolation at their respective homes". If their condition became serious, they must be shifted to designated hospitals immediately, it added.
The deputy commissioners were advised to "provide food, water, fruit, and tea to the people of tableeghi jamaat at isolation centers", CM Shah said, adding that they should also give them prayer mats and copies of the Holy Quran.
