Members of the Shia community in Srinagar on Thursday took part in a Muharram procession on the Gurubazaar to Dalgate route after a gap of over three decades, PTI reported.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration permitted the procession citing a long-pending demand of the Shia community.
Traditionally, mourning processions in the Kashmir Valley on the eighth and tenth days of the Islamic month of Muharram saw massive participation of Shia Muslims. However, with the onset of militancy in Kashmir in the late 1980s, these religious processions would often metamorphose into pro-freedom demonstrations.
As part of a crackdown on such demonstrations, these processions had been banned in the region.
On Wednesday, Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Ajaz Asad issued a notification saying that permission had been granted for a Muharram procession from Guru Bazar to Dalgate via Budshah Kadal and MA Road in Srinagar from 6 am to 8 am on Thursday.
The order cautioned the participants to not get involved in any “anti-national/anti-establishment speeches/sloganeering or propaganda”, reported The Indian Express.
“They [participants] shall not hoist any flag depicting provocative slogans/text and/or photos of terror outfits, logos of banned organisations at both national and international level,” the order said. “Activities of the participants attending the procession should remain strictly confined to the programme only. They shall cooperate with local police and other security agencies as desired by them in the public interest.”
Hundreds of people took part in the procession in Srinagar on Thursday.
“There was a long-pending demand from our Shia brothers that the traditional procession on Muharram from Gurubazaar to Dalgate be allowed,” Divisional Commissioner Kashmir V K Bhiduri said on Wednesday, reported PTI. “It was not allowed for the past 32-33 years. Now the administration has decided to allow the procession. It is a historic step.”
Last week, Kashmiri political parties had asked the administration of the union territory to lift the ban on Muharram procession, reported PTI. They had said that the ban was not justified if the government claims normalcy has returned to the region.
“The Lieutenant Governor and home minister of the country are saying that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved,” National Conference chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq told PTI. “So, I don’t see any reason why processions on 8th and 9th [mourning days of] Muharram through the traditional routes should be stopped.”
