In a rather shocking development, lawmakers from both Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and its rival Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) among other political parties have come together to attend the funeral of two of their colleagues’ mother, flouting social distancing as well as the ban on public gatherings to curb the spread of coronavirus in the country.
As per the details, the mother of PTI MPA from Gojra Bilal Asghar Warraich and PML-N MNA Khalid Javed Warraich passed away on Friday. With her funeral prayers being held on Saturday morning, scenes from the venue in Gojra city of Toba Tek Singh district showed violation of the government-ordered ban on public gatherings to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak that has so far claimed 144 lives with 7,654 infections across the country.
WATCH VIDEO:
Hundreds of participants at the funeral also included prominent personalities such as senior PTI leader and lawmaker Riaz Fatyana.
A day earlier, a lack of consensus between religious leaders and the government saw congregational prayers still being held at some mosques across the country, in defiance of government guidelines on social distancing.
In the federal capital, hundreds gathered at the Red Mosque, led by hardline religious leader Abdul Aziz, to offer prayers, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and filling the mosque’s main hall to capacity.
Reports indicated that congregational prayers were also held at major mosques in other cities, with varying levels of social distancing.
