‘This is too sad’: virus stifles Eid celebrations for Asia’s Muslims

Muslims across Asia celebrated Eid ul-Fitr in a subdued mood for a second year on Thursday as the Covid-19 pandemic again forced mosque closures and family separations on the holiday marking the end of Islam’s holiest month of Ramadan.

Worshippers wearing masks joined communal prayers in the streets of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. The world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation allowed prayers inside in low-risk areas, but mosques in areas where there was more risk of the virus spreading closed their doors, including Jakarta’s Istiqlal Grand Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia.

In Bangladesh, however, tens of thousands of people were leaving the capital, Dhaka, to join their families back in their villages for Eid celebrations despite a nationwide lockdown and road checkpoints. Experts fear a surge in cases in a country grappling with a shortage of vaccines and fear of variants of the coronavirus spreading.

“I understand that we all miss our relatives at times like this, especially in the momentum of Eid,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in televised remarks. “But let’s prioritise safety together by not going back to our hometowns.”