India: Kashmir government allows Muharram procession after three decades in Srinagar

The government of Jammu and Kashmir allowed the Shia Mourners procession in the Kashmir Valley after three decades. It was after a ban for over 30 years that the administration led by the LG Manoj Sinha allowed the 8th Muharram procession of Shia Muslim mourners to pass through its traditional route from the Lal Chowk area in Srinagar.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police arranged for tight security arrangements while the procession was carried out by thousands of mourners. The J&K government granted two-hour permission to the procession between 6:00am to 8:00 am (IST).

"The Shia community has been asking for permission for the last three to four years continuously and when the government decided to allow the procession, we accordingly put in place all the necessary security arrangements. The three-tier security arrangements are in place for the security of mourners,'' said Vijay Kumar, ADGP, Kashmir Police.

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The procession was carried out on the traditional route starting from Shaheed Gunj to the Dalgate area in Srinagar. The route was thrown out of bounds for the processions in the backdrop of, the eruption of insurgency and the law-and-order situation since 1989. The administration, after meeting several Shia religious heads, finally allowed the procession and put all security arrangements in place to prevent any law-and-order situation during processions.

"We sincerely wanted that the long pending request to carry the eighth procession through its traditional route be fulfilled. Finally, the procession has been allowed and they are very happy to see this happen after over 34 years of ban,'' said Asad Aijaz, the deputy commissioner of Srinagar.

The Shia community were thankful to the LG administration for allowing the traditional procession after over 34 years of ban.

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