Low-key Eid celebrations in Kashmir in view of restrictions clamped due to COVID-19

Srinagar: Eid-ul-Fitr celebrations in Kashmir were a low-key affair on Thursday as the faithful marked the culmination of the fasting month of Ramzan by offering the thanksgiving prayers in small congregations at local mosques by observing social distancing in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

No Eid prayers were offered for the fourth consecutive time at the major mosques and shrines of Kashmir as police enforced a strict curfew in most parts of the valley, including Srinagar city, officials said.

People offered the Eid prayers in small congregations at local mosques, mostly early in the morning, they added.

At many places, the police asked the mosque management committees not to use loudspeakers and to conclude the prayers quickly.

The valley continues to remain under a lockdown in the wake of a surge in the number of coronavirus cases. Curfew-like restrictions were imposed across the valley on Wednesday.

Muslims offer special prayers as a mark of thanksgiving to the almighty at the end of the month-long Ramzan fasting.

This is the fourth time in a row that Eid was celebrated in a subdued manner in Kashmir. Last year, Eid-ul-Azha prayers were low key in view of the pandemic, while Eid-ul-Fitr prayers could not be offered in May due to a COVID-induced lockdown.

Before that, Eid-ul-Azha prayers in 2019 could not be offered in Kashmir as authorities had imposed a strict curfew in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution and bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into Union territories. (PTI)