Even as the coronavirus cases continue to rise in India, Islamic clerics, leaders from the opposition parties, including members of Samajwadi Party and Congress have demanded the opening of Idgahs and mosques ahead of the festival of Eid al-Adha.
According to the reports, Islamic clerics from Darul Uloom Deoband has written a letter to the Yogi Adityanath government making five demands ahead of the Eid festival.
In a letter, Darul Uloom spokesman Mufti Ashraf Usmani had demanded that Muslims should be allowed to offer namaaz in mosques with proper social distancing on Bakrid. The imposition of ‘five persons in a mosque’ rule should be lifted, demanded Usmani.
The Islamic cleric also called for arrangements for the slaughter of animals and lifting of the ban on the sale of goats. The Darul Uloom spokesman also asked the government to allow markets and shopping malls to be open ahead of the festival.
The cleric said that the festival will fall on either July 31 or August 1, while demanding that the government should shift the weekly lockdown to Tuesday and Wednesday.
Samajwadi Party MP asks govt to open mosques, Idgahs on Eid al-Adha
Despite rising coronavirus cases, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal, Shafiqur Rehman Barq, has also demanded that Muslims be allowed to offer community prayers in mosques on Bakrid. Shafiqur Barq submitted a memorandum to Sambhal district magistrate Avinash Krishan and said that offering individual prayers at homes is not enough.
“Only limited people are allowed to offer prayers in mosques. This won’t be sufficient. Authorities must allow all Muslims to offer namaaz in order to get rid of COVID-19 pandemic and save the world,” he said.
No cure of Coronavirus has been found so far, which means Coronavirus is not a disease but punishment by God for our sins. The best cure of Corona is that we all pray to God: Shafiqur Rahman Barq, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal https://t.co/5lq2gZZhYe
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 21, 2020
Barq also said that markets should be organised like last years for Bakrid so that Muslims can make their purchases for carrying out the holy sacrifice.
“When Muslims pray together and seek forgiveness from Allah, especially on this day, it never goes in vain. I request authorities to grant permission to offer community namaaz on the day and let people pray together to make the world free from this pandemic. We will ensure that all precautionary measures are taken and COVID-19 protocols are adhered to,” added the Samajwadi Party MP.
Congress leaders writes to Karnataka CM to allow mass prayers
Senior Congress leader and Karnataka MLC CM Ibrahim has written a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa requesting the government to allow Muslims to worship at mosques on the occasion of Eid. The senior Congress leader also said that they would follow all the social distancing norms during the festival.
CM Ibrahim also asked the fellow members from the community to avoid slaughtering animals near their residential premises and urged them to perform all the slaughtering activities at nearby abattoirs. The former Union Minister also directed the Muslims to stay away from activities that hurts the sentiments of other communities.
