Thousands defy Bangladesh lockdown for imam's funeral
19 April, 2020
Tens of thousands of people defied a nationwide coronavirus lockdown in Bangladesh on Saturday (Apr 18) to wait the funeral of a high Islamic preacher, even as authorities battle a surge in virus cases.
Police had agreed with the category of Jubayer Ahmad Ansari, that only 50 people would attend the funeral in the eastern town of Sarail as a result of the risk of spreading the disease.
But local police chief Shahadat Hossain said officers were helpless to avoid the crowds who came to honour the 55-year-old popular preacher and seminary head, who died on Friday.
"People came in waves," he told AFP.
Organisers said about 100,000 attended the funeral. An aide to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Shah Ali Farhad, also said more than 100,000 were present.
Bangladesh imposed a nationwide lockdown on Mar 26 as coronavirus spread across the country of 168 million people.
Medical department said the amount of cases had risen by a lot more than 300 on Saturday to about 2,200, while nine more deaths in a single day took the toll to 84.
Authorities have conducted few tests and specialists say the amount of cases is greater than officially recognised.
New rules ban a lot more than five people taking part in prayers in the country's 300,000 mosques.
The prime minister has called on Bangladeshis to pray in the home when the Ramadan festival starts this month. But several influential clerics has called on Muslims to carefully turn out in their masses for daily prayers.
Last month at least 25,000 persons attended a Muslim prayer meeting in a field in the southern city of Raipur to chant "healing verses" to rid the country of the deadly virus.
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