Raiwind Ijtimah begins with strict SOPs

No participant from abroad will take part in event

LAHORE:

A three-day Tablighi Ijtimah (religious congregation) started on Thursday amid strict social distancing at sitting and sleeping areas at Raiwaind, Lahore.

Only 50,000 persons from different parts of the country are attending the congregation as this year no foreign member of the Tablighi Jammat has neither been invited nor allowed to attend the gathering owing to the fear of Coronavirus spread.

Tablighi Jammat Shura (council) had earlier decided to strictly follow the government’s standard operation procedures (SOPs) and instructions in organising the annual gathering which usually attended by over a million people from all over the world.

The final prayers will be held on November 8, and then the participants will leave for their respective areas by following the same SOPs to halt the spread of Covid-19's second wave.

The 50,000 participants were selected by the elders at the regional Tablighi centres in Peshawar, Swat, Dera Ismail Khan, Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Quetta and Karachi.

The participants were allowed to enter the Ijtimah site only with permission letters from their regional Tablighi centres.

Elders of the Tablighi Ijtimah have requested the general public not to come to Raiwind as they will not be allowed to enter the tent village specially set up for the three-day congregation.

Once the participants enter the site of the congregation, they will not be allowed to leave the tents through the end.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2020.