UP Government Issues Guidelines for Religious Processions, No permission if Traffic Disturbed, Control on Loudspeakers
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, April 19: The Uttar Pradesh government has decided on a set of rules for giving permission for religious processions in the state in view of the current spate of communal clashes in Delhi and in several other parts in the country even as an Aam Aadmi Party member of the state Assembly claimed that the prime accused in the national capital’s Jahagirpuri riots was a prominent BJP leader.
The BJP, similarly, had earlier accused the AAP to be behind the Delhi riots.
“The BJP was behind the Jahangirpuri riots,” the AAP member of the Delhi Assembly Atishi said. “The main accused in the Jahangirpuri riots – Ansar – is a BJP leader. He played a major role in getting BJP’s candidate Sangeeta Bajaj to contest and plays an active role in BJP. It is clear that the BJP is behind the Jahangirpuri riots and it should apologise to the people of Delhi. BJP is a party of hooligans,” she said.
This comes after the BJP had alleged that the key accused had links with the AAP. “The mastermind of the attack… Ansar, has been found to be an AAP worker. There is evidence of this in the form of photos. Tahir Hussain, who was the mastermind of the 2020 Delhi riots, was also an AAP councillor. Is AAP running a riot factory?” alleged BJP MP Manoj Tiwari.
The Delhi police have registered FIR against two men from the Delhi unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal for organising the religious procession, which sparked off the vilence on the Saturday evening, without any permission.
The DCP (north-west) Usha Rangnani reiterated, “A case under IPC Section 188 has been registered against organisers for carrying out a procession on the evening of April 16 in Jahangirpuri area without any permission. One of the accused has joined the investigation. Further investigation is in progress. The other two processions which were carried out in morning and afternoon on April 16 in Jahangirpuri area had due permission.” Both the processions had passed off peacefully on the same route but the third procession organised by the Bajrang Dal was allegedly stoned from a mosque sparking of violence.
Feeling concerned over the fresh round of communal clashes in several parts of the country from the Ram Navami day on April 10, the UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath convened a high level meeting on Monday night to discuss the law and order situation and formulate guidelines for religious processions to avoid any communal bickering between varius sections of the people.
Issuing a set of directions after the meeting, the state government said the guidelines were drafted considering the possibility of the festivals of Eid at the end of the month-long Ramzan and Akshay Tritiya falling on the same day on May 3. It said no religious procession or marches would be allowed without proper permission. All organisers will be required to submit an affidavit promising to maintain peace and harmony before permission is given, the statement added. Only the traditional religious festivities would allowed and no new events would be given permission, a tweet from the CM’s official account said.
No permission would be given for Microphones at any new locations and those already using loudspeakers can do it only after ensuring the volume does not disturb anyone, the statement said. Religious programmes can happen only at designated spots and road routes and traffic will not be blocked, it added.
The state government has also cancelled the leaves of all police and administrative officials in the state till May 4 and asked all those already on leave to report within 24 hours. Yogi Adityanath directed the officials from the police station to the Additional Director General (ADG) level to hold dialogues with religious leaders and eminent personalities within the next 24 hours to ensure peace during the upcoming festivals and said mikes can be used at religious places but no new permission of their installation should be given.
“The leave of all administrative/police officers, from SHO, CO and district police chiefs to the district magistrate, the divisional commissioner is cancelled till May 4 with immediate effect. Those who are currently on leave must return to the place of posting within the next 24 hours. This arrangement should be ensured by the Chief Minister’s Office,” Yogi Adityanath said.
“Additional police forces should be deployed in sensitive areas and drones used for keeping an eye on the situation. Every evening, the police force must do foot patrolling and police response vehicles (PRVs) should remain active,” he said while holding a law and order review meeting with senior officials.
“There are many important religious festivals in the coming days. The month of Ramadan is going on. Eid festival and Akshaya Tritiya are likely to be on the same day. In such a situation, considering the current environment, the police will have to be extra sensitive,” he said.
Stating that everyone has the freedom to follow his method of worship according to his religious ideology, the Chief Minister noted, “Although mikes can be used, make sure the sound does not come out of the premises. Other people should not have any problem.” He added that no permission should be given to install the mikes at new sites. The direction apparently is to discourage a section of the rightist organisations who have threatened to install loudspeakers at 21 street crossings in Aazan was not banned immediately.
Pointing out that the safety of every single citizen was the primary responsibility of the government and the people, Yogi Adityanath said, “All of us have to be alert and careful about this responsibility of ours,” he added. All necessary efforts should be made keeping in view the local needs so that every festival is held in peace and harmony, he said and called for stern action against those issuing mischievous statements. “Those trying to vitiate the atmosphere should be dealt with strictly. There should be no place for such people in a civilised society,” he said.
The chief minister insisted that the religious programmes and worship were held only at the designated places and no religious events were allowed that disrupt traffic. “If they (officials) have government accommodation, they should stay there or take one on rent, but they have to stay in their posting place at night. It should be strictly followed,” he said.
The police said the situation in Jahangirpuri of northwest Delhi was heading towards normalcy amid heavy deployment of security personnel in the violence-hit area. Some of the shops, mainly of grocery, in the streets have opened and the movement of people is becoming normal, they said. Over 500 police personnel and six companies of additional force have been deployed in the area round the clock. Besides, a total of 80 tear gas gun parties and water cannons have been deployed and drones are also being used in sensitive areas for rooftop surveillance, police said.
Meanwhile, the VHP on Tuesday accused the Delhi Police of coming under pressure from “secular and Muslim leaders” to book the organisation and its associated Bajrang Dal in connection with the Jahangirpuri clashes. It also said that Delhi commissioner of police (CP) Rakesh Asthana’s statement that it had not taken permission to take out the shobha yatra through the area was “baseless.”
“The Delhi CP’s statement that the shobha yatra was taken out without permission is baseless. We all know that the Delhi Police never give anyone permission to take out processions. If they feel a certain procession should not be taken out, it writes to the concerned organisation to cancel it. Delhi police had sent such a letter to us to cancel the shobha yatra in Shahdara on April 17 and we complied with it… I urge Delhi CP not to come under pressure from secular and Muslim leaders,” VHP Delhi president Surendra Gupta said in a statement.
