COVID-19: Burial grounds to be closed in Kolkata during Shab-e-Barat

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has urged people not to venture out during the Shab-e-Barat and said all burial grounds in the city will remain closed, except for burials, on the occasion.

The Municipal Corporation issued a notice in this regard on April 3.

"In connection with the ensuing Sab-e-Barat scheduled to be held on April 8 and April 9, and pursuant to the appeal from Mohammedan Burial Board, as well as appeals from various Imams, the congregation of people outside or inside the Muslim Burial Grounds of the K.M.C. is discouraged and it is detrimental to public health under Epidemic Disease Control Act," the notice said.

The mourners are requested not to crowd the burial ground to keep the compulsory maintenance of social distancing and assist in the fight against COVID-19.

"The burial gounds will remain closed excepting for burial purposes with a limited number of entries, mourners if needed," it added.

The notice further requested the concerned to cooperate and act accordingly.

Shab-e-Barat, which in Islamic faith means the Night of Forgiveness or the Day of Atonement, is considered to be an occasion when the Almighty forgives sinners if they pray.

Observed on the night between the 14 and 15th day of the eighth month of the Islamic calendar, the occasion is marked by Muslims congregating in mosques and visiting graves of their departed loved ones.This year it is falling on the intervening night of April 8 and April 9.