Guwahati: Thousands of people gathered to attend the funeral of the celebrated Islamic religious leader Moulana Khairul Islam Mufti in Assam's Nagaon district on Thursday, prompting officials to impose a lockdown in 3 surrounding villages.
This was a complete violation of the Union Home Ministry's guidelines amid the COVID-19 crisis which states that only 20 people (maximum) can participate in a funeral or last rites of a deceased person. However, the rules went for a toss in Nagaon and thousands upon thousands gathered to pay their last respects to the celebrated figure.
Later, videos and pictures of the procession surfaced on social media, which showed people flagrantly defying the social distancing rules and regulations. Several prominent leaders were also seen in attendance at the mass gathering. From the videos and pictures that went viral, it is clear that many of the people were not even wearing masks.
Khairul Islam was the Vice-President of the All India Jamiat Ulema and an "Aamir-e-Shariat" for the Northeast. He was the father of AIUDF (All India United Democratic Front) MLA Aminul Islam from Dhing constituency. Islam breathed his last on Thursday and his funeral was held at 5:15 pm in Dohgaon.
MLA Aminul Islam said that the people turned up in such huge numbers as his father was a renowned figure in Assam. He said the family about the death and the funeral and the police asked many vehicles to turn back. However, people still found ways to keep coming in to join the procession", he said."
Meanwhile, district administration officials have estimated that no less than 10,000 were present at the ceremony and 2 cases have been filed by the police. Nagaon Deputy Commissioner Jadav Saikia said that there were no law and order issues in the gathering but a clear violation of the ongoing pandemic laws. He added that the police will investigate the case and proceed as per law.