President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday urged religious leaders and the public to observe discipline while organising events for Ramazan during the coronavirus lockdown.

While presiding over a meeting with ulema in Islamabad, the president appealed to the masses to donate generously during the coming month of Ramazan since many madrassahs, mosques and welfare organisations looked forward to these funds for covering their routine expenses.

“As per the foundations of Islamic society, we as a nation should exhibit discipline, coherence and national uniformity as we continue our battle against the coronavirus,” the president asserted, adding that we [as a nation] can curb the spread of the virus in the holy month of Ramazan by staying away from crowds and unnecessary gatherings.

The president maintained that the people of Pakistan want to see their political and religious leaders on the same page and any conflict in this regard would be counterproductive.

“We have sought proposals from the provincial governments to incorporate their point of view while deciding in this regard,” the president said, adding that Interior Minister Ijaz Shah is in correspondence with the provincial governments in this regard.

“We will ask for forgiveness and salvation during this holy month,” the president said, adding that he was hopeful that all preventive measures will be taken to curb the spread of coronavirus during Ramazan.

Earlier on Friday, Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri had said he was hopeful that the ulema would cooperate and adopt a ‘middle path’ while organising events for the coming month of Ramazan.

Speaking to the media, Qadri had said that during these challenging times, religious scholars were expected to show seriousness on the matter.

The minister also asserted that the incumbent government had taken all steps to ensure the health and well-being of its people and if the number for coronavirus cases surge because of any negligence, the situation will be out of control.

Assuring that the ulemas’ stance would not be ignored while crucial decisions are made, Qadri said that the government had imposed a partial lockdown across the country and had not issued directives to close mosques completely. Instead, officials have instructed to reduce the crowd at places of worship to contain the spread of coronavirus, he said.