ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Interior on Thursday directed administrative officials to facilitate the repatriation of Tableeghi Jamaat members and Zaireen (pilgrims), stranded across the country, before the first of Ramzan after ensuring the necessary standard operating procedures (SOPs).
According to the notification, the ministry ordered all chief secretaries and chief commissioners to ensure immediate execution of the directives in accordance with guidelines issued by health and district authorities.
“Strict disciplinary action will be taken against those found negligent in this regard,” the notification read.
The directives were issued following a meeting of the Functional Committee for the Affectees of the Coronavirus which was held yesterday. The meeting, which was chaired by National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, had directed the ministry to facilitate the “respectable return” of the stranded Tableeghi Jamaat members and pilgrims.
On April 21, at least 2,258 people who attended a religious mass gathering in Raiwind — a town located in Lahore’s suburbs — tested positive for Covid-19 – accounting for around 27 per cent of the country’s total coronavirus cases.
The authorities are now tracking around 70,000 people who attended the event hosted by the Tableeghi Jamaat.
The five-day annual gathering, that began before Pakistan’s lockdown was implemented, was attended by as many as 70,000, including 3,000 travellers before it was cut short, police officer Ghazanfar Shah told Bloomberg over phone.
Religious groups have been linked to virus hotspots around the world. An obscure church in South Korea attracted global attention after being linked to a sudden spike in coronavirus infections that accounted for about 5,200 confirmed cases in February. Singapore later banned the local activities of the South Korean sect.
Governments have long struggled to deal with religious sensitivities, especially during a crisis like a pandemic, Burzine Waghmar, a member of the Centre for the Study of Pakistan at SOAS University of London, said by phone.
