Government in consultation with provinces as Shia clerics call for religious processions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri said on Saturday the permission to take out processions to commemorate the death anniversary of Islam’s fourth caliph, Ali ibn Abi Talib, would be granted after consultation with the provinces.
“The final decision will be announced by Tuesday with the consent of provincial administrations,” Qadri told Arab News. “The permission to take out processions with limited participation and strict compliance with the SOPs [Standard Operating Procedures] can be granted, if the provinces agree.”
The minister held an online meeting with Shia clerics belonging to the provinces of Sindh and Punjab to discuss the mourning processions and gatherings related to the martyrdom of the fourth caliph between May 13 and 15 (or 19th and 21st of Ramadan).
“In the Friday meeting, representatives of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan were not present. Therefore, we have called another meeting with these provinces on Monday,” the minister said, adding that during the meeting the Shia clerics assured him that they would strictly follow the SOPs and their scouts would ensure social distancing.
“The SOPs would also be established through consultation with the provincial authorities, but the number of participants would be limited to less than 1,000 for every procession. Other than that, the organizers of these rallies will also install walk-through disinfectant tunnels to ensure the safety of the participants,” he said.
The minister added that protection of people from COVID-19 should be everyone’s top priority under the circumstances.
The spokesperson of Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqah-e-Jafaria (TNFJ) Allama Qamar Zaidi, who also attended the meeting with the minister on Friday, said his community “will bring out processions to commemorate the martyrdom of Hazrat Ali and the government cannot impose a ban” on them.
“We have been taking out these processions for hundreds of years. No one can stop them and the TNFJ will not accept any obstruction or condition to restrict the processions,” Zaidi told Arab News, adding that the government would indulge in undue confrontation if it tried to stop the ritual gatherings.
“We have assured the government that we will implement all precautions through our scouts. If these safety measures can be implemented in mosques, they should be easier to implement on roads that provide more open space,” he said.