New Delhi,  At the centre of controversy of Tablighi Jamaat, its chief Maulana Saad Kandhalvi ignored the suggestions given by veterans of the religious cult for postponing the congregation last month.

The cases of Covid-19 positive related to Jamaat have risen and almost 20 percent cases are related to this congregation in India, and the government has traced almost 22000 persons who have direct link to the Jamaat. Some members have been quarantined in some states and the government has appealed to them to come out and get tested.

Congress leader Meem Afzal told IANS, "I am told that the sprinter group of the Tablighi Jamaat cancelled the event when they came to know that coronavirus is spreading. The same advise was given to Maulana saad by different people." The sprinter group has headquarters at Dariyaganj in Delhi in Masjid Faizilahi which runs in the name of Shura-e-Jamaat.

He also said that Zafar Sareshwala had told publicly that he met Saad to request him to cancel the event but he ignored the advice.

Some veterans in the Tablighi Jamaat have raised concerns about the style of functioning of Maulana Saad.

"Maulana Saad knew everything and was aware of the coronavirus which was spreading, but his stubborn attitude has now pushed innocent Tablighi Jamaat members into the jaws of the virus. Maulana Saad, who claims to be the Chief (Ameer) of Muslims of the world and terms the Tablighi Markaz as the most sacred place after Mecca and Madina, is so ignorant about the coronavirus pandemic," said Mohammed Alam who spoke to IANS from Mumbai.

While Jamaat sympathisers defended him and said that this is the government failure for allowing foreign passengers into the country and till lockdown everything was going on normal.

Fuzail Ahmed Ayyubi, a supreme court lawyer engaged by the Tablighi Jamaat, said that "the Jamaat informed the authorities about people stuck after the curfew was announced."

Maulana Saad Kandhalvi has been a controversial figure when he split the Tablighi Jamaat contrary to the advice of the Shura in 2015. His grandfather had started the movement in 1926 and later shura was put in place to elect the chief but Maulama Saad made his way to the top ignoring the shura which led to the division of the Jamaat.