West Bengal to reopen all religious places from June 1; adds new regulations

West Bengal government had decided by itself on Friday that all religious places: temples, mosques, gurudwaras, churches will reopen from June 1. The permission is only for 10 people who can enter at a time. However, no religious congregation would be allowed anywhere. Although the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines allow places of worship to be open from June 8th, Bengal Govt had earlier decided to open them from the 1st of the month.

The MHA directive read that religious places and places of worship for the public hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality services; and shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8, 2020.  Whereas, the directive issued by Bengal Govt states that places of worship can be open from the 1st of June, with 10 people at maximum. Coordinating committees and trust boards of those houses of worship need to make sure that not more than 10 worshippers will be allowed at a time, stated directive of Bengal. However, both have allowed the opening of such places in non-containment zones only.

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Some religious organizations to remain shut

However, even with permissions given by the Bengal Government, many famous temple organizations have decided to keep their doors shut for the next few days. Famous Kali Temple at Kalighat, Dakshinershwar Temple, Belur Math, ISCKON temple in the city have decided to remain closed as of now. In districts, famous religious centers like Tarapith's Kali Temple in Birbhum and Tarashkeshwar's Shiv Temple in Hooghly have also decided to not open the doors yet. 

The Bengal Imam Association also requested all mosques to remain closed for the time being, as chances of multiple devotees rushing to pray can turn into a disaster. Although the government has strictly prohibited the offering of namaz on the streets, the Imam Association in Bengal is strictly not in favour of opening the doors of mosques for prayers yet.

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As multiple temples and Imam associations decided to not open their gates, Gurudwara Sant Kutiya in the Bhawanipore area, one of the oldest gurudwaras in Bengal, decided to start its proceedings from the first of the month. Maintaining social distancing and allowing only 10 worshippers at a given time, the Gurudwara in Kolkata has opened its gates for the ones who want to come.
When asked on the daily 'langar' distribution, the authorities informed that ration is being distributed to ones who need it, but langar cannot be started as it would give rise to an assembly which would violate lockdown guidelines.

Read: Karnataka to follow MHA's lockdown measures; to open malls, religious places from June 8

Read: Amid reopening of religious places in WB, Imam's body urges mosques to remain closed

(Image Credit: PTI)