The Calcutta Khilafat Committee (CKC) in Kolkata, which is responsible for arranging Eid-ul-Fitr Namaz in the city every year, is awaiting the state government’s nod for conducting the same on Red Road this year. The occasion records a gathering of over two lakh every year.
“We have already sent a letter to Eastern Command last week. We are waiting for permission from the state government. If the state government allows, then Qari Fazlur Rahman will lead the namaz on Red Road maintaining COVID-19 protocols,” said Mullick Mohammad Ishaque, a member of CKC as per a report in Millenium Post.
Permissions to conduct open prayer sessions were denied last year due to the lockdown imposed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Red Road gathering is said to be the biggest congregation in the nation to offer special prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul- Fitr.
The CKC has been organising the prayer at Shahid Minar ground since 1920 but shifted to the Red Road 26 years ago.
Eid-ul-Fitr will be celebrated either on either May 13 or May 14 depending upon the lunar sighting.
Second wave of the coronavirus
This comes amidst the ongoing second wave of the coronavirus pandemic with the nation clocking over 3,00,000 new coronavirus cases daily.
The state of West Bengal on Tuesday registered its highest single-day deaths and new coronavirus cases at 107 and 17,639 respectively, as per the health department data.