Eid celebrations low-key in state for second year in a row

RANCHI: Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival of joy, remained a low-key affair all through the state for the second year in succession. Owing to the pandemic, associated pain and grief in the society, apprehensions and restrictions by the administration on mass gathering, there were no mass prayers at Idgah, though people in small numbers offered prayers at mosques, while observing social distancing rules at the designated timing.
Chief minister Hemant Soren extended greetings to the people of the state and prayed for the well-being of all and quick recovery from the pandemic. In his message, he also appealed to people to remain indoors and offer prayers at home to stop the spread of the virus.
People mostly remained indoors and offered prayers at home abiding by the directive to avoid mass congregations at religious places. A scientist at Birsa Agriculture University, Dr Abdul Wadood, said that there was a marked difference in Eid celebrations than last year, even though the pandemic had started by then. “This year, coronavirus has been wreaking havoc and many people have passed away, fear is widespread in the society so mostly people avoided going for the mass prayer,” he said. He said that at least friends and relatives visited each other last year, though there was no mass prayers even in 2020.
Muslims offered prayers in some mosques with proper social distancing. At Ramzan colony mosque, proper demarcations were made and people in batches of 30-40 offered namaz in three rounds, beginning at 5.45am. The general secretary of All India Muslim Majlis Mushavarat, Khurshid Hassan Rumi, said that though Eid comes as a gift to those who observe fast during the holy month of Ramzan, this year many people who were down with Covid could not fast religiously. “The sick and old are anyway exempted from fasting but Eid is like a gift from the Almighty and we expect things to improve now,” he said.
However, even though a partial lockdown has been imposed in the state, the essentials related to Eid were available in the market and people bought new clothes, sevai and atar. Faiz Khan, a shopkeeper near Main Road, said that though the usual crowd was missing, people did some shopping within the stipulated hours. “Chand raat, the night of moon sighting, is usually huge business for the shopkeepers but this year, everything was closed. We can hope for better times as thousands of people offered prayers and sought everyone’s well-being,” he said.