While Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy appealed to the people not to give a religious colour to the spread of corona and that the virus see no caste, creed or religion, deputy chief minister Narayanaswamy attributed the sudden spurt in Covid-19 to the Muslims.

Referring to several videos that have gone viral, deputy chief minister Narayanaswamy said some members of the Muslim community were seen licking the leftovers from plates and spoons in order to infect others with the viurs. Further, the deputy chief minister said the Jamaat attendees who returned to the state were not cooperating by refusing to get medical checks up done to rule out corona virus. He said the Muslims should maintain personal hygiene, maintain social distancing norm and cooperate with the government. Deputy chief minister Narayanaswamy cannot be pardoned for making such comments.

Many video clips shared on Facebook and WhatsApp purportedly showed Muslims actively working to spread the virus in India. Fact-checking websites have reported a barrage of fake-news targeting Muslims for the pandemic. These videos are fake.

Islamophobia has also been on the rise in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak and an increasing number of infected patients linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in South Delhi’s Nizamuddin. Many who had attended the Jamaat were tested positive for corona virus. The country reported 7,447 positive cases of corona, a third of these cases linked to Jamaat attendees.