Covid-19: Karnataka issues guidelines for Bakrid; maximum 50 people allowed inside a mosque

The order makes wearing of a mask 'compulsory' while devotees are required to maintain a distance of six feet from each other while offering prayers.

Karnataka government’s department of minority welfare, Hajj and Wakf has issued guidelines for the festival of Bakrid, which will be celebrated on July 21. According to the order, published in Prajvani e-paper on Saturday, not more than 50 people will be allowed to offer prayers in a mosque on the day of the festival. The order further stated that wearing a mask is “compulsory,” adding that devotees should maintain a distance of six feet from each other while offering prayers.

Image used for representational purpose only

Additionally, as per the order, children below the age of 10 should offer Namaz at home only. The checking of temperature, sanitising or washing of hands with soap before entering the mosques has also been made mandatory.

The regulations also require every person to carry their own “Janemaaz” or a cloth used for offering Namaz. Shaking hands, embracing each other is also prohibited. Slaughtering animals in open spaces like parks, roads, pedestrian paths, hospitals, nursing homes and religious places, including mosques, is forbidden.

All the other guidelines mentioned in the standard operating protocol (SOP), too, have to be followed by the devotees, the order mentioned. In order to ensure full compliance with the guidelines, the minority welfare department has urged all Jama Masjids in Karnataka to communicate these to all the “Jamaat” (congregational)-level mosques.

As this is the first festival in the current wave of the coronavirus pandemic, philanthropists are willing to give away a larger portion of the “Zakat” to the needy from any section of the society.

In Karnataka, the festival is celebrated with great zeal in cities like Mangaluru, Kasargod and Bhatkal, which are major centres of Islamic learning.