Ajju Hindustani who set a reward of 11,000 for catching 'Tablighi Jamaat Members' now himself dies of COVID-19

New Delhi: Ajay Srivastav aka Ajju Hindustani, who had declared prize money of 11,000 rupees to “catch” members of Tablighi Jamaat, has become the victim of the Covid-19. His mother and sister also died due to Covid-19.

Ajju Hindustani was an ultra member of radical outfit Hindu Yuva Vahini founded by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, which works outside of the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, as his personal force. Ajju Hindustani was considered as the blue-eyed boy of Yogi and he was locally known as ‘Yogi’s Hanuman’.

When the Tablighi Jamaat was in the crosshairs of the Godi media after it held the congregation at its headquarters, Nizamuddin Marakz here, Ajju had also  joined demonization campaign of Muslims.

Ajju Hindustani, who always remained in the forefront on targeting Muslims in the state, had announced that Hindu Yuva Vahini will award Rs 11,000Rs to whosoever will bring Jamaat member to the local administration.

The Tablighi Jamaat meeting took place in mid-March much before Covid-9 lockdown or Covid scare was there. Even after the organisers of the meeting informed the Delhi government about their situation during the lockdown, no action was taken. But the godi media blew the news when the Modi government was getting a lot of flak for its abrupt announcement lockdown that led to a serious migrant workers crisis.

In Tabitha Jamaat, the media got a perfect villain to cover up all the failures of the Modi government. What followed was a massive coordinated attempt supported by law enforcement and media narratives to blame and demonize Muslims for the spread of the Coronavirus in the country.

A number of fake news items



were run, about how Tablighi members admitted in hospitals were demanding Biryani, harassing nurses, and making obscene gestures and spitting. They were even called as terrorists, and so on and so forth. All of these news items were debunked.

Ajju Hindustani was one of the most vocal leaders of this communal campaign and claimed that Muslims, be it Tablighi Jamaat attendees or Rohingya refugees, had created a plot to spread the disease. Indeed, Nizamuddin Markaz controversy exposed the growing bigotry and blatant Islamophobia in a large section of media particularly news channels who are seen as lackeys of the government.

Not only had he announced a reward of 11,000 rupees for anyone who could give the Hindu Yuva Vahini any information regarding Tablighi Jamaat attendees, but he also claimed that havans and pujas will curb the spread of Covid-19 and the ghee used in puja will cure the disease.

After Ajju was found to be Covid-19 positive on July 19, he also conducted one of these pujas for himself. Well, the ritual did not work, and he passed away on July 30th. Unfortunately, his mother and sister also passed away due to Covid-19, and various other members of his family also got infected by the virus as well.

It is also to underline that the Tablighi gathering was held much before the announcement of lockdown while the numerous pujas, construction of temples, and religious gathering have been organized amid the alarming rise in Covid-19 positive cases and deaths.

Now the country sees some of the biggest promoters of violent Islamophobic rhetoric infected with the disease one by one which is making it clear that the disease is not spread by the oppressed communities of the country.