Covid vaccine being administered on a beneficiary in a camp held at Taj-ul-Masajid, in Bhopal

By Pervez Bari 

BHOPAL: In order to beat the fast growing tentacles of Covid-19 in Bhopal the district administration used the premises of historical Taj-ul-Masajid, one of the largest mosque in Asia, to vaccinate people of all hues to send the message of communal harmony.

It was a part of Bhopal district administration’s initiative to accelerate the pace of vaccination in the walled city of old Bhopal wherein several hundred people from all communities got vaccinated.

According to SDM Jameel Khan, who also has the charge of CEO of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board, people from all religions came here to avail of the benefit. The district administration had only taken the premises of the Taj-ul-Masajid to increase the pace of vaccination.

Jamil Khan prior to seeking permission to use Taj-ul-Masajid premises for vaccination had sought a fatwa from Bhopal Shahar Mufti Abdul Kalam Qasmi about Covid vaccination. Shahar Mufti obliged issuing a Fatwa which said: “If one gets vaccinated there is no harm”.

SDM Jameel said special camps are being organised with the help of community members so that vaccination is done fast and covers most vulnerable sections of the society. Help of religious leaders is also being taken to make the people aware.

Earlier, prior to this camp at Taj-ul-Masajid, Bhopal Shahar Qazi Maulana Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadwi and Shahar Mufti Abdul Kalam Qasmi too had got vaccinated to give message to the residents of Bhopal.

The state government had urged community leaders to come forward to increase the pace of vaccination after which such initiatives were taken by most of the communities. People residing in Sajeda Nagar, Shaheed Nagar, Pari Bazar, Vajpayee Nagar, Royal Market and Eidgah Hills were the main beneficiaries of this vaccination camp. People working in the offices near the historical mosque and shop owners took the jab at this camp.

Chief Minister’s appeal

It may be pointed out here that Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had appealed to religious leaders to play important role to stop spread of Coronavirus and promote vaccination.

As such religious leaders took the initiative to give push to the vaccination drive amidst increasing cases of corona. A vaccination camp was organised at Haidery Jamaatkhana last week.

About 300 people from Dawoodi Bohra community got their first dose of vaccination last week. Two teams of doctors and medical staff carried the drive. Mehmood Bhai Janeali, Shoeb Bhai, Abbas Bhai Sara played a key role in making arrangements for the beneficiaries. Local community head Aamil Saheb took this initiative 18 days back and was vaccinated. He appealed to community members to go for vaccination, said spokesperson of community, Hakimuddin Saify.