New Delhi, March 31: Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday slammed sections of media for "giving religious identity to a virus". Shashi Tharoor shared pictures of titles of shows aired by certain news channels on the coronavirus outbreak. The shows apparently tried to link the spread of coronavirus to a certain religion. Tharoor hit out at these channels, saying "this is no time to promote communalism for TRPs". Shashi Tharoor Fined Rs 5,000 by Delhi Court For Not Appearing in Defamation Case Filed by BJP Leader.

"It’s been just 9 days since we expressed national solidarity with our healthcare workers on the frontlines. Those serving us from medics to cleaners are people of all religions. This is no time to promote communalism for TRPs. Shameful to give the virus a religious identity!" read a tweet by Tharoor. Sections of media tried to put the blame on Muslims after it came out that several people who attended a religious gathering at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz tested positive for coronavirus. Shashi Tharoor to Follow Jyotiraditya Scindia's Footsteps? Congress MP Clears Air on Joining BJP With Witty Response.

Shashi Tharoor Slams News Channels For Promoting Communalism:

There were 216 foreign nationals among 1,746 people lodged at the Tablighi Jamaat's Nizamuddin Markaz facility as on March 21, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced 'Janata curfew' across India to contain COVID-19 spread, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday. "As on March 21, there were about 1,746 persons staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz. Of these, 216 were foreigners and 1,530 were Indians," the MHA said.

The building belongs to the Tablighi Jamaat, a Muslim sect that hosted this month its annual congregation with attendees coming in from several nations, particularly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan before they spread out to other parts of the country such as Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh creating a web of close contacts that now threatens to create an explosion of cases in the country.

The Ministry said that details of these 824 foreigners had been shared on March 21 with the sate police for identifying them, getting them medically screened and quarantined. Besides, on March 28, state police were advised to collect the names of Indian Tabligh Jamaat workers from the local coordinators to locate them on the ground. So far, the Ministry said, about 2,137 such persons have been identified in different states and they are being medically examined and quarantined.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2020 08:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).