Christian, Hindu communities adopt measures in prayer events to prevent coronavirus from spreading

Religious and sectarian minorities in Karachi have resorted to adopting safety measures in their prayer events to prevent COVID-19 from spreading in the country by shortening their prayers and in some cases, closing down places of worship.

The Christian community in particular strictly observed prudence in its Sunday’s prayers by not shaking hands with the priest at the end of the prayer and calling off their Holy Communion ceremony on Sunday.

The Holy Communion is performed in Catholic churches in which worshipers accept bread and wine at the end of their prayer. Speaking to The News, Bishop Sadiq Daniel of the Holy Trinity Cathedral said prayers took place in all the cathedral churches of the port-city on Sunday; however, the priests were directed not to shake hands with the worshipers at the end of their prayers.

Daniel is also the bishop of Karachi Diocese, under which all the catholic churches of Sindh and Balochistan fall. “The Holy Communion ceremony has also been called off, in which bread and wine are fed to the worshipers by the priest,” he said and added that hand sanitisers and masks were also arranged for the priests and worshippers.

As for the marital masses in the churches, he said only immediate family members of the bride and grooms would be allowed in the solemnisation, “not the entire clans”.

When asked if shutting down the churches was an option if coronavirus could not be contained, he responded that if the government gave such orders they would comply with them.

The bishop was also doubtful about the holding of their Thursday holy meeting in which around 700 people gather for prayers. “It’s a tough decision whether to hold that meeting or not this Thursday in the current circumstances,” he remarked.

Daniel also requested the Christian as well as the Muslim communities to fast on Friday and pray for the virus to be annihilated. “The Muslims should also hold special prayers after their Juma sermon for getting rid of the virus,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Hindu community has also started taking precautionary measures in the wake of rising cases of coronavirus in the country. Burnes Marwari Panchayat’s Pandit Parkash told The News on behalf of his Hindu Marwari community that they had been taking extra precautions in offering Prashad, which is something sweet that is eaten by worshippers after their Puja.

“Whosoever offers parshad, we make sure that he or she has sanitised their hands,” he said, adding that they have been following all the government orders of not holding huge gatherings for their prayers.

In case the government asked to shut down the religious places throughout the country or the province, he said as Pakistanis they would abide by the direction. “Puja can be done by one person. If the situation goes worse, temples would be shut down and one person would offer Puja,” he said.

The Muslim minority groups such as the Ismaili and Bohri communities have also announced steps to deal with coronavirus threat. It has been learnt that the Jamaat Khanas of the Ismaili community have been completely shut down starting today (Monday).

Meanwhile, the Dawoodi Bohra community has also closed their Jamaat Khanas until further notice. However, one of their leaders on condition of anonymity told The News that their Masjids (mosque) would remain open.

“We have a Jamaat Khana where our social activities such as marriage ceremonies take place, which has been completely shut down,” the Dawoodi Bohra community leader said and added that they have also reduced the duration of their prayers in their Masjids.