Covid surge: No Eid Namaz on Red Road this year

KOLKATA: Eid Namaz will not be performed on Red Road amid surge in COVID-19 cases in the state. Last year, the Eid-ul- Fitr prayer was not held on Red Road due to lockdown in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. This apart, the Eid namaz was also not conducted at Nakhoda mosque (Kolkata's biggest mosque), Tipu Sultan mosque and other mosques or Eidgahs.

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, after uprooting the Left Front government in 2011, became the first Chief Minister who met Namaz-E-Eidan Qari Fazlur Rahman, who leads the city's biggest Eid Namaz on Red Road. Since then, every year she has been meeting him on Eid after the Namaz.

"There will be no open prayer session on Red Road this year. This is the second year in a row, we have skipped Eid Namaz due to COVID-19 pandemic," said cleric Rahman.

Every year, the Calcutta Khilafat Committee (CKC) makes necessary arrangements for Eid Namaz on Red Road.

The committee writes a letter to the Eastern Command and the state government seeking permission to conduct the open session prayer.

During pre-COVID-19 pandemic years, nearly 2 lakh Muslims used to assemble at the biggest congregation on Red Road (Indira Gandhi Sarani) to offer special prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul- Fitr, which marks the end of month-long Ramzan.