Manama: Kuwait Municipality has banned the use of all kinds of cameras to take pictures or shoot videos at the country’s cemeteries.
All legal measures will be taken to ensure full compliance with the decision, the municipality has warned.
The move follows uproar on social media when Subhan graveyard in the capital was used as a location to shoot scenes for a TV series.
“The sanctity of the dead should not be violated and respect for them should be upheld,” the municipality said in its warning.
Full-time monitoring
“There will be a full-time monitoring of the graveyards as well as signs prohibiting the taking of pictures or videos.”
A Kuwaiti filmed the crew as they were preparing the scene at the cemetery and complained they were not respecting the sanctity of the place. He commented that some of the crew members were talking loudly and smoking in a total disregard for the sanctity of the dead.
“Shooting a TV series at Subhan cemetery. Lack of respect and disregard for the sanctity of the dead,” Abdul Rahman Al Nassar posted.
The video went viral on social media and sparked angry reactions that called for respect of cemeteries.
A security source said that following the posting of the video, a patrol went to the cemetery to check the situation.
The policemen were told that the crew had the proper permit to shoot at the graveyard.
The official in charge of the cemetery confirmed that the crew had been cleared by two competent entities to shoot the scenes, Kuwaiti daily Al Rai reported.
However, Information Ministry official Mohammad Al Awash said that the scenes at the cemetery had been shot by a private production company without the approval of the ministry.
The ministry will take all necessary legal measures against the company for breaking the laws and rules, the ministry posted on its Twitter account.
For Muslims, graveyards are austere places full of memento mori and intense reminders to contemplate and prepare for the afterlife.
