Social distancing rules should be same for Ramadan, Easter

Social distancing rules should be same for Ramadan, Easter – Trump

President Donald Trump said Saturday he hopes US Muslims will be held to the same social distancing standards during Ramadan as Christians at Easter when a number of faithful chafed against coronavirus-related restrictions on large gatherings.

The US president made the comments after being asked to defend a retweet of a conservative commentator who seemed to question whether Muslims would be treated with the same severity as Christians who broke social distancing rules.

“I would say that there could be a difference,” Trump said during his daily coronavirus press conference. “And we’ll have to see what will happen. Because I’ve seen a great disparity in this country.”

“They go after Christian churches but they don’t tend to go after mosques,” he said.

Ramadan, which begins at sunset on Thursday, falls a week and a half after Easter when some Christians bucked public health regulations to attend illicit services.

Asked whether he thought imams would refuse to follow social distancing orders, Trump responded: “No, I don’t think that at all.”

“I am somebody that believes in faith. And it matters not what your faith is. But our politicians seem to treat different faiths very differently.”

Trump has been accused of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the past and one of his first acts upon entering office was to ban travelers from several Muslim-majority countries.

More than 700,000 cases of coronavirus have been reported in the United States, forcing religious communities across the country to shutter their doors.

The Islamic Society of North America, alongside Muslim medical experts, has urged the suspension of group prayers, among other gatherings.

Jewish Americans were likewise forced to turn traditional Passover seders into virtual affairs when the eight-day holiday began at sundown on April 8.

Despite similar measures taken across much of the Christian community, a Virginia pastor who continued to preach in defiance of stay-at-home rules died a week ago of coronavirus.

And pastors at two megachurches in Florida and Louisiana have been arrested on misdemeanor charges for flouting stay-at-home orders.

“The Christian faith is treated much differently than it was,” Trump added on Saturday, “and I think it’s treated very unfairly.”

Comments

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun

See how Tinubu reacts to #EndSARS protests, says police reforms has begun National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu has said the protest against police brutality in Nigeria is within the constitutional right of Nigerians. “Asiwaju Tinubu believes in the right of Nigerians to freedom of expression, assembly, and protest where and when necessary, he has always canvassed the need for people to explore peaceful channels to ventilate their views and demands,” Tinubu said in a statement by his media aide Tunde Rahman. “He believes the #EndSARS protesters have made their demands, which the Federal Government is studying.” Tinubu’s statement comes after being alleged of being one of the sponsors of the ongoing nationwide protest against brutality, extortion, harassment and extrajudicial killing by police personnel. The Cattle’s Breeders Association known as Miyetti Allah had earlier accused Tinubu of using the protest to distort the administration of President Muh...

Operators seek tax holiday, subsidy to save airlines

Operators seek tax holiday, subsidy to save airlines Worried by the fate that awaits local carriers, operators yesterday, appealed to the Federal Government to introduce some economic recovery measures to safeguard airlines from collapse. The operators, currently burdened by recurrent costs, are seeking aviation intervention fund at an interest rate of not more than five per cent. They suggested that government could take a cue from the American model of offering 50 per cent funding and grants, and 50 per cent palliatives through waivers and suspension of taxes, levies and fees among others. Besides, they called for the implementation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order on Removal of Value Added Tax (VAT) from all forms of transportation; as domestic airlines are still the only forms of transportation paying VAT. The current restriction of both local and foreign commercial flight services has forced domestic carriers into fin...

Senate to write Buhari over dead lawmaker on FCC board

Senate to write Buhari over dead lawmaker on FCC board Senate President Ahmad Lawan will draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari to the erroneous inclusion of a dead person on the list of nominees sent to the Senate, The Guardian has learnt. It emerged on Wednesday that the list for the appointment of members into the Federal Character Commission (FCC) included the late Tobias Chukwuemeka Okwuru, a former member of the House of Representatives from Ebonyi State. Okwuru, the 12th on the 38-person list died in February 2020, aged 59. Until his demise, he had acted as chairman of the House Committee on Environment and had represented Ikwo/Ezza Federal Constituency between 2011 and 2015. This is, however, not the first time names of the dead have featured in appointments by Buhari since he became president in May 2015. In 2017, the names of five persons said to be dead appeared on a list of appointments onto the boards of federal agencies and corporations. They were:...

Gtechone

Search This Blog