Bangladesh decides to re-open mosques for public prayers from today

The government of Bangladesh has decided to allow the reopening of mosques for public prayers from Thursday. A statement issued by the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Wednesday said that considering the overall situation the mosques will be reopened from May 7 based on the recommendation of the Cabinet Division of the government of Bangladesh. The mosques have, however, been asked to follow the directives issued by the Health Ministry and observe other precautions.

The ministry also issued a 12 point directive for strict compliance by the people coming to the mosques to offer prayers. According to the directives, the mosques must keep soap or hand sanitiser at the front and everyone must wear mask. The worshippers are also required to maintain a minimum distance of 3 feet from each other. It has made the mosque management committee responsible for ensuring that people adhere to the instructions. The mosques will not be allowed to hold Iftar or Sehri for more than 5 people.

The congregation in mosques was suspended on April 6 in order to check the spread of Corona virus in the country.

While the government is gradually slackening the restrictions, Corona infections continued to rise



at a rapid rate in Bangladesh. On Wednesday, 790 fresh cases of Corona infection were detected over the last 24 hours which is the highest number for any single day so far. 3 people succumbed to the infection. With this the total number of Corona positive cases in Bangladesh has gone up to 11,719 since the first case was detected on March 18. A total of 186 people have died due to Corona virus so far. More than 1400 people have also recovered from the infection.

Following up the announcement by the Civil Aviation Ministry on Tuesday, the High Commission of India will start the evacuation of stranded Indians from Bangladesh from Friday. Special flights will take Indians to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and other cities from Bangladesh over the next few days.

In the meanwhile, a Cartoonist, a writer and an NGO Activist have been arrested under the controversial Digital Security Act (DSA) on charges of spreading rumour over Corona virus. Cartoonist Kabir Kishore and writer Mushtak Ahmed were presented before the court which refused to grant them bail. Case has been filed against 11 people for allegedly spreading rumour and false information on the Social media.