Bengaluru: In a piece of news that appears not just strange but shocking and shameful as well, a godman identified as Aslam Baba, who claimed he would cure coronavirus with his kiss, has himself passed away due to the coronavirus. 

The incident took place in Madhya Pradesh.  

Once the news spread, district authorities, rushed to the venue and ferreted out people who have been infected by him. As of now, the number stands at 19. 

All these 19 are corona positive. Interestingly, the police have tracked down another 29 healers with similar predictions. Now, these people too have been sent to a quarantine centre. 

It is worthy to note that Aslam had promised innocent people that he would cure them of the virus just by kissing their hands. 

The communal angle to it: 

One of the websites we referred to while writing this story alleges that many other websites like Nayi Duniya, Navbharat Times have tried to hide the Muslim identity by using only his second name ‘baba’. This, the website alleges was a wanton effort to make its readers believe that it was a Hindu who did it. 

It further notes that Aaj Tak has used the caricature of a Hindu sadhu as its illustration. 

This website also quotes several other examples to prove the point that the media wants to attribute the crime to Hindus and Hinduism. From the usage of the word ‘baba’ to ‘tantrik’ the website states that there is a wanton effort to spoil the name of Hindus. 

For example, it states how Dainik Jagran used the words “Tantrik Sufi Baba” in its headline in a story related to harassment. But it adds that the accused was later identified as Aftab. 

Crime is a crime.  Whether Hindu or Muslim or any other religion, it should be viewed with non-partisanship. Attributing religion to crime or vice-versa defeats the very purpose of justice and fairness.