Amid Lockdown, Thousands Attend Spiritual Leader’s Funeral in MP

The attendees also reportedly included political leaders from BJP and Congress and celebrities.

Screeshot of the funeral procession

Photo Courtesy: Twitter 

Thousands of people reportedly gathered at the funeral of a spiritual leader in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni earlier this week, blatantly violating social distancing norms during the lockdown. The attendees also included political leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress and celebrities like Ashutosh Rana, reported NDTV.

Some of the political leaders who paid tribute included MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh the NDTV report added.

In a video, hundreds of people can be seen walking along with the funeral procession of spiritual guru Dev Prabhakar Shastri, 82, popularly known as 'Daddaji', who died on Sunday, 17 May.

When questioned, Katni District Collector Shashi Bhushan Singh reportedly told the publication that there was no violation. He added that everything was regulated, and social distancing norms were maintained.

This comes at a time when the Centre has extended lockdown across the country till 31 May, with restrictions imposed on gatherings during funerals to avoid the spread of COVID-19.