Pakistan: Faisalabad Chief of Tablighi Jamaat Dies Of Covid-19, Over 1100 Tablighis Infected With Novel Coronavirus

The Faisalabad chief of Tablighi Jamaat has died of coronavirus even as the number of its infected members crossed the 1,100 mark in Pakistan’s Punjab province on Friday.

Maulana Suhaib Rumi, 69, Faisalabad chapter head of Tablighi Jamaat, died of COVID-19 on Thursday.

Deputy Commissioner of Faisalabad Muhammad Ali confirmed his death

“The elderly preacher had attended the Tablighi gathering in Lahore’s Raiwaind last month. Five members of his family, including two grandchildren, are also infected with coronavirus,” Ali said

Maulana’s family members have been kept in an isolation centre in Faislabad, some 150 kms from here.

According to the Punjab health department, atleast 1,100 Tablighi Jamaat members have been tested positive for coronavirus in the province.

Pakistan has over 7,480 cases of Covid-19 with at least 143 deaths.

A large number of preachers who had attended a major congregation in early March in its headquarters in Lahore were later tracked down across the country and placed in quarantine centres.

According to the government, in March the Tablighi Jamaat went ahead with its annual congregation in Raiwind, Lahore against its ‘advice’ that the gathering might spread the virus. Pakistani authorities had urged the cancellation of the five-day Tablighi congregation, which was attended by thousands of people from several countries.

Tablighi Jamaat members have emerged as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers, not just in Pakistan but in India, Malaysia and Brunei.