Suhail Bhat
SRINAGAR, Mar 23: People in Kashmir are invoking divine intervention to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection by organizing Community feasts in their respective localities violating the Government orders of social distancing which may lead to spread of the infection.
The Community feast locally known as Bandar is being organized at a time when the Government has announced lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus. The experts too have advised desisting from community gatherings which play a vital role in the spread of viruses and stress on social distancing and personal hygiene. “We are not against any faith and have been doing such practice in difficult times like famines and floods. But it is different affair and authorities need to aware people about it,” Riyaz Ahmad, a local said.
In one such case, people in Zoonimar area on the outskirts of Srinagar collected rice and money from all the households of the locality for the preparation of community feast. The volunteers prepared a meal in a community kitchen and distributed it among the residents. “The feast has a deeper significance and the ritual is designed to give protection from the harm. It also symbolizes that we all are together in these trying times,” a resident of the area said.
Some 20 kilometers away at Kadlabald area of South Kashmir people organized a feast of similar nature arguing that it would prevent the spread of the virus. The feast was followed by special prayers to seek God’s help in preventing the spread of the virus.
This, however, is not the first time that the people in Kashmir are organizing such feasts. “People in the past have been doing such practices during natural disasters like floods, droughts, and epidemics and the idea was to reinforce the social solidarity of the community by drawing the neighborhoods together in trying times. However, this time the situation is different and people need to reverse their behaviour and response to this pandemic is isolation and not togetherness. People need to understand that. By such practices they are inviting trouble,” a doctor said.
The religious scholars have also advised people to avoid religious gatherings and ceremonies, including weddings amid coronavirus. Major mosques and shrines in Kashmir have been closed for prayers and devotees respectively to prevent spread of the COVID-19.
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