Image Courtesy: kashmir.today
The Mumbai Police have registered a case against five persons, including trustees of an Andheri-based mosque, for allegedly violating the Covid-19 lockdown norms after a group of people assembled in the premises on Thursday, The New Indian Express reported.
It was reported that police team from the DN Nagar Police Station reached the Eidgah Mosque after they received a call that some people had assembled there in the morning. On reaching there, the police told TNIE, they found that social distancing norms were not being followed in the premises and a further probe revealed that the people had gathered there for a discussion and not for prayers. A person present at the mosque mentioned to TNIE that the group had gathered to discuss the distribution of essential commodities to the poor and that they had followed precautions in the premises of the mosque.
Mumbai Mirror reported that a total of 70 people had gathered at the mosque and the police team split them into smaller groups upon reaching there.
Parmeshwar Ganame, Senior Inspector of the DN Nagar police station told TNIE, “As of now, we have mentioned the names of five people, including the trustees, in the FIR. A case has been registered under section 188 (disobeying an order issued by public servant) and other relevant provisions of the IPC.”
Bhiwandi mosque’s humanitarian gesture
The Makkah Masjid mosque in Bhiwandi’s Shanti Nagar area, in a humanitarian gesture, converted its premises into a temporary Covid-19 facility where oxygen is provided free of cost to patients, reported Business Insider.
The facility has been set-up by the local chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Movement for Peace and Justice and Justice at the Shanti Nagar Trust, which runs the mosque. The administrators have put up five beds equipped with oxygen cylinders and also delivers oxygen cylinders to patients’ homes if required. An office bearer of the JIH said that the makeshift facility is open to all communities, reported the publication.
In a press release, Ausaf Ahmed Falahi, President JIH Bhiwandi said, “Bhiwandi-Nizampur has been hit the hardest by Coronavirus. It’s a very congested city, resulting in the rapid spread of the disease. As it is, the city has a poor health infrastructure, and now even several general practitioners have shut their clinics due to fear of infection. A vast majority of people in the city lack awareness about the disease and are unable to afford treatment. Hence, we decided to start this facility to do our bit in these trying circumstances.”
Qaiser Mirza of the Shanti Nagar Trust said, “Khidmat-e-khalq (Service to humanity) is one of the basic tenets of Islam.A mosque is not merely a place of worship. Rather, its’s supposed to be a community centre working for the welfare of the people living in its vicinity. Makkah Masjid was shut to the worshippers and was lying idle due to the pandemic and the lockdown. Hence, we decided to use some of the premises of the mosque to help those who can’t avail treatment facilities elsewhere.”
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