GUWAHATI: All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) has demanded immediate closure of all places of worship, including prayer and fasting centres, in the state, to prevent transmission of coronavirus through group gatherings.
The demand comes in the wake of a woman, who had stayed for three days at the Prayer Centre in Naharlagun, testing COVID positive on Sunday.
“We demand stringent action against all violators of COVID-19 safety protocols. If adequate measures are not initiated at the earliest, there is a huge possibility of a Nizamuddin Markaz-like community spread from religious places in Arunachal Pradesh,” AAPSU vice president Meje Taku, said in a statement.
An AAPSU delegation accompanied by Naharlagun Police visited the premises of the prayer centre on Sunday evening and take stock of the situation.
The visit was necessitated following a panic situation in the area and a written intimation about the COVID positive case by colony dwellers to Taku, who is also the chairman of AAPSU COVID-19 Mission.
The team, while collecting details of the entire area, urged the inhabitants not to leave the area till proper contact tracing and testing was initiated by the authorities.
The union informed the deputy commissioner about the incident, urging him to declare the area around the Prayer Centre as a containment zone and also initiate contact tracing at the earliest.
“There are strong possibilities of many such prayer/fasting centres and religious places of worship being open in and around the capital complex region, flouting the standard operating protocols issued by the government. So we earnestly appeal to all the religious leaders and organizations to take the COVID-19 situation very seriously and close all places of worship,” it said.