Tweet on Tablighi members: 'Will reply to notice as per rules, says IAS officer

Bengaluru: A day after the Karnataka government issued a show cause notice to him over his tweet about coronavirus-cured Tablighi Jamaat members donating plasma for treatment of other patients, IAS officer Mohammad Mohsin on Saturday said he will reply to the notice as per rules.

“Yes, I have got the notice and shortly I am giving reply as per the rules,” the IAS officer told PTI.

Claiming that he had only shared a news item of a private news channel, Mohsin said he has no idea why there is so much outrage over the tweet.

“You can’t please everyone all the time,” the officer said in reply to a query whether he saw any conspiracy behind the row.

The officer was in the news last year after the Election Commission suspended him for trying to inspect Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s helicopter during his visit to Odisha in April. He was deployed as a poll observer.

“More than 300 Tablighi Heroes are donating their plasma to serve the country in New Delhi only. What about? #Godi Media? They will not show the works of humanity done by these heroes,” Mohsin said in a tweet on April 27.

A 1996 batch IAS officer from Karnataka cadre hailing from Bihar, Mohsin is currently serving as a secretary in the Backward Class Welfare Department.

The state government said the show cause notice has been issued to the officer in connection with his tweet.

“The adverse coverage this tweet has got in the media has been taken note of seriously by the government, given the serious nature of COVID-19 and the sensitivities involved,” the notice, which was accessed by PTI, stated.

The government has sought a written explanation from the officer within five days for violating the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968.

The Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic missionary group, shot into the limelight early this year after thousands of its members who attended a congregation in south Delhi’s Nizamuddin in March tested positive for coronavirus.

After attending the event, the group’s members travelled to various parts of the country, with many of them carrying the virus.