Amanatullah video, Nizamuddin Markaz and media
It was 43 minutes ago when Amanatullah Khan uploaded a video on his FB page informing his viewers that how on a petition of the Khan-headed Delhi Waqf Board, the Delhi High Court gave permission on Monday to reopen Nizamuddin Markaz.
The Tablighi Jamaat headquarters was sealed on March 31 last year after the Delhi Government, according to media report, declared the Markaz one of Delhi’s first hot spots of Covid-19.
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Khan WhtasApped the video to the OT for publication. To cross check facts, the OT desk googled Nizamuddin Markaz, Tablighi Jamaat and visited several websites and national dailies online to see whether the development took place.
For more than 30 minutes, no media houses which had covered Nizamuddin Markaz for days in initial days tweeted or posted anything about the development.
The OT spoke with several people who follow Nizamuddin Markaz with one author suggesting that no such development has taken place as there is no news in the virtual world and it is better not to upload the video.
The OT then called a senior journalist who confirmed this development to the portal When asked, why the news is yet to be splashed or no ticker surfaced, he said: “No idea as nobody is interested.”
He pointed out that the same media had covered Nizamuddin Markaz for days and many even insinuated that Tableeghis were responsible for the spread of Covid-19 in India.
The OT also called a lawyer to confirm the development and said due to online proceeding nobody has the update.
It was a few minutes ago that the OT received a call from a columnist, who earlier was not sure about the development as it had not surfaced online, and he said the news has been splashed by the Indian Express, with this headline: “Can’t limit number of people allowed to enter Nizamuddin Markaz when no other religious place has such restrictions: Delhi HC”
The Delhi High Court allowed the mosque inside to open for prayers during Ramzan in accordance with Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) guidelines, reported the national daily. The IE story was updated: April 12, 2021 5:24:56 pm.
For a while, the OT desk even was convinced that the claim made by the AAP MLA and Waqf Boar Chairman Khan was factually incorrect.
(The story was drafted some 30 minutes ago but the OT waited for the news to be splashed by a media house and hence delayed its publication.)
