Religious gathering : Bahrain to take legal action

Legal measures are taken against an undisclosed number of people for violating coronavirus (COVID-19) precautionary measures related to ‘Arbaeen’ pilgrimage.

The Deputy Head of Public Security said actions were taken against “a number of people” for violating the ban on gatherings related to ‘Arbaeen’ or the ‘fortieth day’.

Dubbed the world’s largest annual religious gathering, this year the event is posing formidable health hazards for authorities already struggling with a spike in COVID-19 infections.

In a normal year, up to 20 million mostly Shia pilgrims take part in the ‘Arbaeen’ pilgrimage to the holy city of Kerbala to commemorate Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was slain in bat- tle in 680 by the Muslim Caliph of the day.

This year, with Iraq already recording up to 5,000 new COVID-19 infections daily and a total death toll of nearly 10,000, authorities have barred entry to most foreign pilgrims, including some three million Iranians.

But tens of thousands, undeterred by the pandemic, have marched for days from all over Iraq to Kerbala, where yesterday marked the culmination of 40 days of mourning for Hussein.