Lucknow, Maulana Ali Hussain Qummi, secretary of the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) has said in a statement that at a time when people are dying due to the coronavirus, it is wrong to burst crackers and light lamps.

He said that during the '9baje9minute' event on Sunday night, a large number of people in several cities were seen bursting crackers and dancing which is rather insensitive.

The cleric said that the it was also wrong for the police to enter mosques and beat up people offering 'namaaz'. He said that in some cases, the police had vandalized the mosques which was objectionable.

"One particular religion is being targeted. Lakhs of people have been collecting in Delhi prior to the lockdown but no one utters a word about them. We all have to fight against Corona virus collectively but it is unfair to blame one community, on religion," he said.

He also slammed the electronic media for taking the Corona battle on communal lines.