Assam appeals to religious leaders to avoid mass prayers

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday reached out to religious leaders and sought their help to avoid mass prayers and fight the problem of rumour-mongering during the fight against COVID-19.

Sonowal met a group of religious leaders belonging to all religions in Guwahati and appealed them to convince their followers and devotees to avoid mass prayers and perform the same in their homes.

Sonowal appealed that all should perform the rituals of Shab-E-Barat, Easter Sunday, Good Friday and also Rongali Bihu, thereby avoiding crowd to prevent further spread of coronavirus in the state.

"As we are yet to have a vaccine or medicine to treat the COVID-19, prevention is the best way to avoid the spread of the virus. We all must maintain social distancing and help the administration to enforce the lockdown so that we can soon win our fight against coronavirus. Therefore, I appeal all of you to convince followers of respective religion to help us in this regard," Sonowal told a group of religious leaders.

On Wednesday, the CM also met another group of religious leaders in Silchar in South Assam and made the same appeal.

Assam has reported 28 COVID-19 positive cases so far of which 27 are related to Nizamuddin congregation. "Till March 31, we did not have any positive case. But after that, we reported several cases, most of which were related to Nizamuddin congregation. The health department has put them into quarantine and treatment but some have gone into hiding. They have not yet come forward for necessary tests and quarantine. Therefore, I request the Islamic religious leaders to help us to bring them back to the quarantine centres," he said.

Sonowal also said that some miscreants were trying to trigger communal hatred by spreading rumour and fake information through social media about the government's efforts to fight COVID-19.

The state police have so far arrested 13 people including an Opposition MLA for allegedly spreading rumours and communal statements regarding the government's efforts. The state police has also removed over 100 social media posts containing information to promote enmity between religions and communities.