A riot-like situation occurred in Karachi on Friday when police tried to disperse a religious gathering. The incident took place near the Ghausia Mosque when people started pelting police with stones.
#Watch #Sindh #Karachi Liaquatabad block 7 Ghausia Masjid, the Imam provoked public for congregation #Friday prayers.Riot like situation. People are opposing #lockdown, stone pelting on police, #PakistanArmy Called #COVID19Pandemic #Pakistan (2-1) pic.twitter.com/K9pbScO66m
— Ghulam Abbas Shah (@ghulamabbasshah) April 3, 2020
Karachi is the capital of Pakistan’s Sindh province, which is the worst-hit with 783 COVID-19 cases.
In a video, people can be seen running after a police vehicle after they were stopped from performing Friday prayers.
Today when police reportedly tried to stop a Friday prayer congregation at a mosque forcibly in #Karachi’s Liaquatabad, residents reacted violently. #lockdown #SocialDistancing . pic.twitter.com/1MaNI0Am6W
— Zia Ur Rehman (@zalmayzia) April 3, 2020
After authorities failed to prevent large gatherings last week, police on Friday enforced a strict lockdown across Pakistan to restrict Friday prayer congregations in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Pakistan has been struggling to control the spread of COVID-19 as staunch Muslim clerics have been asking people to come for prayers.
Even though Muslims-majority countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Turkey, Syria and others have suspended collective prayers to contain the spread of COVID-19, the religious heads in Pakistan are saying that they should gather in large numbers to pray to God to protect them from the fatal disease.
Pakistan has resisted a complete lockdown and the country has seen a spike in cases with 2,458 and 37 deaths.
