Why are they on the run?

Till March 30, Assam was free of any COVID-19 positive case. The department under the command of Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma did everything under the sun to face any situation that may arise. Then on March 31, suddenly everything changed as Assam recorded the first positive case of COVID-19 in Barak Valley. The patient was one of the returnees from Nizamuddin Markaz gathering in New Delhi, and on the very next day the floodgates were opened. Stunning revelations emerged from the hotspot as the organizers didn’t have the permission to hold the meet as by that time the Delhi government had passed prohibition orders on assembly of mass gatherings. The video footages from inside the Nizamuddin Mosque complex clearly disclosed how the attendees defied the government orders of maintaining social distance as ordered by the government. The audio tape further revealed facts when the Maulana Saad of the Nizamuddin Mosque was urging the gathering to defy lockdown orders and also was telling that the lockdown was a ploy to weaken the Muslim community. Now a question arises: is there a big nefarious game plan in this whole episode? After the repeated appeals from the government/administration to all the missing Nazamuddin attendees, the dangerous part is that they have all gone hiding. Even the organizer, Moulana Saad has too gone into hiding. We all know how this dreaded virus is creating devastation across the globe as prominent countries like the USA, Italy, China, Spain have succumbed to it. It sounds bad but something very nasty can be sensed from this vanishing act of these people. This vanishing act indicates some sinister designs as the hiding is done deliberately. Assam is waiting for those around 160 people to surrender at the earliest as further delay might bring catastrophe in the state. It is high time the government followed the rulebook to book the violators. It is also certain that in the coming days more startling revelations will emerge from the Nizamuddin Markaz episode.

Gaurav Chowdhury,

GNB Road, Guwahati