India

Sohan Roy, a UAE based prominent businessman in his native Malyalam language poem titled ‘Viddi Janman’ (Fool’s life) narrated that religion had made people blind as they were ignoring coronavirus restrictions in the name of God. Though the poem did not name any community, images accompanying it in the background showed a preacher leading a crowd of blindfolded men wearing kurta pyjama and skull caps. The illustration alludes to members of Tablighi Jamaat, who have been widely propagated in Indian media as the prime suspects among potential coronavirus carriers. Earlier social media in Arab countries was on fire against Islamophobic tweets by some gulf-based non-resident Indians. The matter was sparked more by an Indian working in Dubai who targeted Muslims and blaming Tablighi Jamaat for spreading the pandemic.