India is heaven for Muslims and their social, economic and religious rights are secure, Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today, in response to a statement by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on what it called "Islamophobia" in the country.
"India's Muslims are prosperous. Those trying to vitiate the atmosphere can't be their friends," Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi was quoted as telling Press Trust of India.
The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had in a statement on Sunday urged India to take "urgent steps" to protect the rights of Muslims and stop the incidents of "Islamophobia" in the country.
1/2 #OIC-IPHRC condemns the unrelenting vicious #Islamophobic campaign in #India maligning Muslims for spread of #COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination & violence with impunity.
— OIC-IPHRC (@OIC_IPHRC) April 19, 2020In tweets, OIC's Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission also said the Indian media was negatively profiling the Muslims and subjecting them to discrimination.
1/2 #OIC-IPHRC condemns the unrelenting vicious #Islamophobic campaign in #India maligning Muslims for spread of #COVID-19 as well as their negative profiling in media subjecting them to discrimination & violence with impunity.
— OIC-IPHRC (@OIC_IPHRC) April 19, 2020Asked about the OIC criticism, Mr Naqvi, the only Muslim minister at the centre, said, "We are doing our job with conviction. The prime minister whenever he speaks, he talks about the rights and welfare of 130 crore Indians. If some cannot see this, then it is their problem."
The minister remarked that "secularism and harmony" was not "political fashion but perfect passion" for India and Indians.
The government had earlier hit out at the 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, saying it should not make irresponsible statements.
The row follows posts on social media over a Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi last month, which emerged as a super-spreader of coronavirus with thousands of cases across the country linked to its members.
The Islamic sect was accused of violating social distancing guidelines and ignoring all caution by organizing the gathering of 9,000 at their centre in Delhi, Markaz Nizamuddin. As states tracked down Tablighi members in their fight to control the infection, there was a spurt in hate posts on social media.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday criticized any form of discrimination, saying the COVID-19 pandemic affects everyone equally. "COVID-19 does not see race, religion, colour, caste, creed, language or border before striking. Our response and conduct thereafter should attach primacy to unity and brotherhood," the PM had said in a post on LinkedIn.
World
Coronavirus has spread to 185 countries. The total confirmed cases worldwide are 24,76,854 and 1,70,299 have died; 16,59,795 are active cases and 6,46,760 have recovered as on April 21, 2020 at 8:30 am.
India
In India, there are 18,601 confirmed cases including 590 deaths. The number of active cases is 14,759 and 3,252 have recovered as on April 21, 2020 at 8:00 am.
State & District Details
State Cases Active Recovered Deaths Maharashtra4666
3862
572
232
Delhi2081
1603
431
47
Gujarat1939
1737
131
71
Rajasthan1576
1346
205
25
Tamil Nadu1520
1046
457
17
Madhya Pradesh1485
1284
127
74
Uttar Pradesh1184
1026
140
18
Telangana873
660
190
23
Andhra Pradesh722
610
92
20
Kerala408
114
291
3
Karnataka408
280
112
16
West Bengal392
307
73
12
Jammu And Kashmir368
292
71
5
Haryana254
124
127
3
Punjab245
191
38
16
Bihar113
69
42
2
Odisha74
49
24
1
Uttarakhand46
28
18
0
Jharkhand46
44
0
2
Himachal Pradesh39
22
16
1
Chhattisgarh36
11
25
0
Assam35
15
19
1
Chandigarh26
13
13
0
Ladakh18
4
14
0
Andaman And Nicobar Islands16
5
11
0
Meghalaya11
10
0
1
Goa7
0
7
0
Puducherry7
4
3
0
Manipur2
0
2
0
Tripura2
1
1
0
Mizoram1
1
0
0
Arunachal Pradesh1
1
0
0
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