Javed Akhtar backs fatwa for mosque closure; Ranvir, Ehsaan aghast at Nizamuddin incident

Javed Akhtar supported the call for a fatwa for the closure of mosques, following the Centre's lockdown advisory wherein all religious gatherings have been prohibited, and shortly before the Telangana government confirmed the deaths of persons who attended a very large religious gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in mid-March. Celebrities like Ranvir Shorey and Ehsaan Noorani expressed their displeasure over the incident for the fear of the contagious coronavirus spreading further across the country.

READ: Delhi: Parts Of Nizamuddin Sealed After Some Show COVID-19 Symptoms At Religious Gathering

Akhtar took to Twitter on Monday to state that he fully supported legal scholar and ex-chairman of the Minority Commission, Tahir Mahmood’s request to the Darul Uloom Deoband to issue a fatwa for the closure of mosques amid the coronavirus scare. The veteran added that if Kaaba and other mosques in Saudi Arabia could be closed during the pandemic, he wondered why India mosques could not follow suit.

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Meanwhile, six persons dying of COVID-19 in Hyderabad, and chances of over 150 likely to be infected with coronavirus, after attending a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, got strong responses from celebrities.

Ranvir Shorey even used expletives to convey his worry. The actor wrote that the congregation had ‘more than made up’ for the efforts to keep infections down with the help of the ongoing 21-day national lockdown.

READ: Six Telangana Natives Who Attended Nizamuddin Congregation Die Of COVID-19

Ehsaan, of the famed Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, termed it ‘unbelievable’ that ‘lockdown and quarantine rules’ were being ignored by those in the Nizamuddin incident. He added that no community was immune to the virus and that it was important to follow the rules at a time where health workers were facing an uphill battle to contain the virus.

However, the point to note is that the congregation had gathered much before the lockdown declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The PM had announced the lockdown a week back, while the congregation had gathered from March 13-15, though it was well-advised to avoid such mass gatherings long before that.

READ: Delhi Govt Calls For FIR Against Nizammudin Markaz's Maulana Over Lockdown Violation

The Telangana government confirmed that six persons from the state died after attending the congregation. Meanwhile, the Delhi government has called for an FIR to be registered against the Maulana of the Markaz where the gathering had taken place. As per ANI, 300-400 persons attended the gathering and 163 of them from Nizamuddin have been admitted to various hospitals in Delhi over chances of them contracting the virus.

READ: 'Delhi's Nizamuddin Cordoned Off, People Gathered Inside Taken For COVID-19 Tests': DCP