An imam at a Karachi mosque leads worshippers in a special prayer for the Pakistan cricket team ahead of their match against India, March 29, 2011. For many, victory against India is even more important than winning the tournament. (Athar Hussain/Reuters)
Before Ramadan, the religious leaders in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi had agreed on 20-point guidelines for the reopening of mosques for the public.
However, it has been observed that many of them are not following the guidelines critical to minimizing the spread of the coronavirus at worship places.
As a result, the committee formed to monitor the implementation of SOPs for worship places in the Rawalpindi division has served notices to 450 mosques and Imam bargahs for ignoring the guidelines.
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The committee, consisting of religious scholars, traders, citizens, and government officials observed that during the first 10 days of Ramadan, only a few mosques and Imam bargahs followed the protocol completely. Several mosques implemented the guidelines while some mosques in suburban areas completely neglected them.
A majority of the mosques, 129, are located in Chakwal district, 61 are present in the Rawalpindi district, and 42 in Jhelum. Only 18 such worship places are from the Attock district.
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The committee had divided the division into A, B, and C categories based on the level of security and virus transmission risk.
52 mosques across the Rawalpindi division had allowed senior citizens and children to join Taraweeh prayers. There were 79 worship places that had minimum to no precautionary/security arrangements at all.
