COVID-19: Raza Foundation writes to Maha CM, request relaxation of rules for Ramadan

Ahead of Ramadan, Raza Academy Secretary Mohammed Saeed Noori on Tuesday wrote a letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray requesting him to relax rules imposed in the state amid the COVID-19 cases.

Terming COVID-19 a "strange disease", Noori in his letter said that lockdowns are not a measure to tackle it since they cause more trouble to the majority of people in the state who lose their daily earnings and end up in dire circumstances.

His letter read, "As we are all going through the worst phases of the pandemic, we at the onset assure you of all the cooperation needed in tackling the virus and its spread in the state. However, we feel that lockdowns are not a measure to tackle this strange disease. On the contrary, lockdown causes more trouble to the majority of people in the state who lose their daily earnings and end up in dire circumstances."

His letter further stated that the guidelines issued by the government enable relaxation of lockdown rules by the nodal officer of the pandemic wherever he deems fit whether it is for marriage or elections or other necessary functions.

"There is no doubt that prayers are the best means of saving the state or country or community from any kind of disaster be it pandemic or other natural or man-made calamities. Hence to stop people from praying is tantamount to spreading the disease more at a greater speed," the letter further read.

Noori urged the Maharashtra Chief Minister to allow the Muslim community to offer Namaz five times in the mosques adhering to all the guidelines and the SOP issued by the government.

In the letter, Noori said, "We, therefore, urge your good self to allow the Muslim community to pray its 5 time Namaz in their Mosques adhering to all the guidelines and SOP issued by the govt. We assure you that the holy month of Ramzan shall definitely eradicate this disease by the regular and devoted prayers to almighty Allah in this month by the believers."

We hope you shall kindly agree to our request and issue the necessary directions to save the state from further deterioration," the letter concluded.

On April 4, the Maharashtra government announced new guidelines under its 'Break the Chain' campaign to curb the spread of novel coronavirus infections to remain in force till 11.59 pm on April 30.

The state, which has been the major contributor of COVID-19 cases in the past few days, reported over 55,000 new infections in the last 24 hours.

( With inputs from ANI )