People flock to shrines on Eid holidays

SOPs violated at private shrines

RAWALPINDI: After remaining closed for two months, shrines of revered sufis and saints in Rawalpindi opened their doors to thousands of devotees during the Eidul Fitr holidays.

The Punjab government had allowed shrines to reopen before Eid as it relaxed the lockdown to a ‘smart’ lockdown. There are 25 shrines located in the Rawalpindi division which are run by the Auqaf department. Another 500 are run privately.

Therefore, thousands of devotees including women and children visited these shrines across the province. They laid garlands at the tombs of spiritual leaders, offered prayers, and bestowed handouts in a record number.

However, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) were largely flouted by visitors at private shrines while they were strictly followed at those which are directly under the government’s control.

The devotees passed through the sanitising walk-through gates before entering and wore gloves and face masks and maintained social distancing protocols to a large extent.

Auqaf department officials said that a record number of devotees headed to the dargahs during Eid holidays as they remained deprived of it for around two months.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 28^th, 2020.