Tamil Nadu couples of Tablighi Jamaat stranded in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh

CHENNAI: At least 10 couples belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat faith hailing from Tamil Nadu are stranded in Basti in Uttar Pradesh and Indore in Madhya Pradesh after they set out on a missionary service from Nizamuddin in south Delhi on March 10. In all, 15 couples besides 55 men, reached Nizamuddin, the TJ headquarters, on March 7 to participate in a four-day conference in which around 1,500 Muslims from across the country, besides missionaries from abroad, participated.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu intelligence sleuths fanned out across Chennai to seek contacts of TJ members, including women, who took part in the Delhi conference in early March. The women always accompany their husbands on their religious quest. This is a different group from the 1,500-odd delegates who participated in the March 21-23 conference in the Nizamuddin markaz, many of whom have returned to Chennai. Around 600 among them, besides a few family members, have tested positive for Covid-19.

On the night of March 10, the couples travelled to Kerala, UP and MP on a 30-day mission to spread their faith. “We reached Basti city on March 11tocarry outour missionary work. On Wednesday (April1) police arrived and took us to the Rampur Medical College. We are five couples from Tamil Nadu and each couple is isolated in a room,” W F Kareem told TOI.

Kareem said their phones had been taken away. But two of the women managed to keep their phones. “Back home, our children are anxious and worried,” he said. So far, no samples have been taken. “All of us are well,” he said. Besides the five couples from TN, there were five more couples hailing from Bhopal. “There are 11 men too. They took our temperature when we came. But, nothing else after that,” said Kareem.

Kareem says the five couples from Kerala had returned to Chennai. But, it is not clear if they had volunteered to be screened in hospitals in the city. “We have been doing this for the past two decades or so. Every year, around March-April, we visit the mosque in Nizamuddin (Banglewali masjid) for a few days to take part in a conference to learn the tenets of the Tablighi faith before travelling to different parts of the country,” said Kareem.

This year too, the congregation met on March 7 before leaving Delhi on March 10. “We were supposed to leave for TN on April 9,” said Kareem, who has booked tickets now for his return journey on April 16.