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Pilgrimage Sparks Calls to Ban Religious Gatherings in Indonesia Amid Pandemic

After a religious gathering in Malaysia left over 500 infected with the coronavirus, Indonesians are now concerned about similar events in their country.
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translated by Jade Poa
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A Jamaah Tabligh worship session in Lahore, Pakistan. Photo via AAMIR QURESHI/AFP.

This article originally appeared on VICE Indonesia.

Indonesia’s skyrocketing number of COVID-19 cases was seemingly not enough to keep thousands of Muslim pilgrims from gathering in the city of Gowa, South Sulawesi for a meeting. This comes just three weeks after a similar event hosted by the same religious group in Malaysia left over 500 people infected. Indonesia and its neighbour Brunei have also traced at least 12 and 50 infections, respectively, to the Malaysian event.

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Upwards of 8,500 members of Tabligh Jemaah, a global Muslim missionary movement, gathered in Indonesia on March 18, the National Disaster Response Agency (BNPB) said. Participants came from Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India, Brunei, East Timor, Saudi Arabia, and the Philippines.

“We are more afraid of God,” Mustari Bahranuddin, one of the organisers, told Reuters when asked about the risk that the event could worsen the spread of the coronavirus.

As Indonesian President Joko Widodo and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) urged citizens to worship at home and practice social distancing, the sheer scale of the gathering outraged citizens and health experts, prompting calls for the local government to intervene.

On the event’s first day, after organisers repeatedly rejected requests to cancel it, South Sulawesi governor Nurdin Abdullah officially put an end to it.

“Today, all participants will be sent home via airport or seaport,” Presidential Spokesperson Fadjroel Rachman told local media on March 19.

A number of attendees experienced high fevers and were brought to a local hospital on the same day.

In Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara province, another religious event has come under fire for potentially exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus. A two-day mass ordination ceremony for bishops hosted by a local Catholic Church moved forward as planned, gathering over 7,000 people.

Organisers ignored a letter from the national COVID-19 response task force and the BNPB ordering them to postpone the event. The regional government kept close tabs on the event, providing hand sanitizer and thermometres to attendees.

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In Central Java, a Hindu celebration of the Balinese “day of silence” is also moving forward as planned. Organisers initially anticipated a turnout of 10,000 people, but now expect only a few thousand.

The cancellation of mass gatherings has been denounced by some prominent figures, like former military commander Goto Nurmantyo, as anti-religion. In a March 18 Instagram post, which has now been flagged by Instagram as containing false information, Numantyo wrote that even the "Communist Chinese are continuing their Friday prayers" and that mosques are the "safest" place in times of disaster.

In South Korea, where the number of cases has reached 8,652, 46 church attendees tested positive for the coronavirus after sharing a spray bottle containing salt water that was thought to kill the virus.

Also in South Korea, one patient ignored doctors’ orders and attended church without getting tested for the virus, despite exhibiting symptoms. The patient tested positive for COVID-19 the following day. The Korean Centre for Disease Control subsequently traced 1,160 contacts and hundreds of infections to this patient.

Although millions turn to religion in times of crisis like this, mass gatherings are undeniably exacerbating this public health emergency. Scientists have identified countless clusters of infections that began at mass congregations and contributed to exponential growth in numbers worldwide.

Governments and places of worship globally are preparing for the worst. In the Philippines, the Catholic Church has stopped holding masses. The spike in church-related infections in South Korea prompted the shutdown of churches in Daegu, the city where one patient sparked the infection of hundreds. In the United States, many state officials have banned gatherings of 50 people or more, extending it to places of worship. This has led to some creative responses, like one Tennessee church’s decision to offer drive-thru communion.