The Tablighi Jamaat’s Markaz in Nizamuddin West, one of the major Covid-19 hotspots in the country, has now been cleared by the Delhi Police. Initially, however, authorities met resistance from the Markaz leadership after they refused to vacate the premises.
It was only after National Security Adviser Ajit Doval intervened that the leadership cooperated with the police and agreed to vacate the building on the intervening night of March 28-29.
According to sources in the government, NSA Ajit Doval had been in touch with representatives of the Jamaat in Nizamuddin. A delegation from Markaz also held a meeting with the NSA on March 28, during which he tried to defuse the tension amid fears of spread of novel coronavirus.
The sources added that it was after Doval’s intervention that the Jamaatis cooperated and agreed to vacate the building in Nizamuddin.
The government has been using NSA’s good relations with the Muslim leadership in the past as well while trying to defuse communal tensions. Most recently, Ajit Doval was roped in to diffuse communal tensions during Delhi riots.
Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said that out of the 2,361 people who have been evacuated from the area, 617 have been admitted to hospitals while the rest quarantined.
“The medical staff, administration, police and DTC staff worked together in this 36-hour operation, putting their lives at risk. Hats off to all of them,” the deputy chief minister said in a tweet.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi climbed to 120 on Tuesday after 23 new cases were reported on Tuesday.
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