New Delhi: Chants of “Jai Shri Ram” rang out as hundreds converged on Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area around 11 am Thursday morning for the ‘Shree Ram Bhagwan Pratima Yatra’ to mark the occasion of Ram Navami despite the Delhi Police denying permission for a larger procession two days earlier.
Police barricades lined up the stretch of Jahangirpuri’s K-Block where around “2,000 people” holding flags and banners gathered for the procession. Muslim residents of the area said the congregation served as a reminder of the violence that broke out in April last year.
With a dozen policemen and a team of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) on site, the smaller procession — which participants referred to as a “Shobha Yatra” — proceeded Thursday on a 500-metre stretch, from a decked-up park to the end of the barricaded road.
“We didn’t get permission. Around 2,000 gathered for love of our God. Who are Delhi Police to stop us,” said Mohit Sanatani, one of the organisers of the procession. He added, “This is not Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. We are all one. India will remain India, but we need to take care of our religion and have the right to celebrate it. What do we need permission for?”
Head of the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Yuva Morcha youth wing’s Delhi chapter, Mohit told ThePrint that he had applied to the Delhi Police for permission on behalf of the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Yuva Morcha about 15 days ago.
Delhi Police said verbal permission was granted to the organisers Thursday morning to carry out a smaller procession. “We had denied them permission when they asked for permission to carry out a procession on a stretch of around 5-6 kilometres including areas affected by riots last year. They were given permission to conduct the rally only for about 100 metres in K-Block, away from C-block where riots broke out last year,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West) Jitendra Kumar Meena told ThePrint.
Last year, fault lines between Hindus and Muslims living in Jahangirpuri had come to the fore when violence broke out as a result of an altercation during a Hanuman Jayanti procession — permission for which was denied by Delhi Police at the time. Eight cops and a resident had suffered injuries in the arson and stone pelting that followed.
On the procession held Thursday, DCP Meena said “approximately 2,000 people” with saffron flags took part in it amid heavy police deployment. “There was no mandatory rule against sloganeering,” he said, adding that permission was granted for 100 metres but the procession ended up covering a stretch of 500 metres.
Asked about the Delhi Police denying them permission for a larger procession, Mahant Mangal Das, who was part of the ‘Shree Ram Bhagwan Pratima Yatra’, said, “We defied Delhi Police. I do not need permission to take out a procession to celebrate my God. Delhi Police work under us. Will we take a procession in Pakistan, if not in India? It is our right.”
“On Fridays, roads are blocked every time for namaz. No one is permitted to do that but they (Muslims) still go ahead and yet we ask for one day to celebrate our religion and we don’t get that,” added 48-year-old Das.
Om Mishra (27), regional head of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Yuva Morcha who travelled from Surat for the procession and was one of its organisers, told ThePrint, “We are not terrorists. The ones who ruled this country are. They (Muslims) left their marks everywhere. This is why this place is called Jahangirpuri. When they create nuisance, we will retort.”
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Wounds of the past
Not more than a kilometre from where the procession took place, in City Park Jahangirpuri, 65-year-old Khurshid Ali, recalled the violence that broke out last year when a group of men wielding swords allegedly entered the Jama Masjid in Jahangirpuri on 16 April 2021.
Khurshid’s son, Mubarak Hussain (26), was among those arrested by the police in connection with the violence. A resident of Jahangirpuri since 1985, Khurshid told ThePrint, “They (police) took my son. He didn’t do anything. He is a ragpicker. He was coming back home when they put him in the car. This year, I asked my family to stay at home.”
“It (Hanuman Jayanti procession last year) was all politically motivated. They had no need to come here. During azaan, we only asked them to lower the volume of their songs. It’s been a year since they took my son. A bond of Rs 25,000 is sought for his release. Where do I get it from? Who do I ask? I barely earn anything,” he adds.
Sitting outside the Jama Masjid where violence broke out last year, Sheikh Shahid (67) said, “For three months, there was complete chaos here. Everything was shut. I have been here since Indira Gandhi’s time. Never had anything like this happened before. It was deliberate. For months, cops used to come and pick up innocent Muslim boys. We couldn’t do anything. If we play loud, provocative music in front of temples won’t you stop us?”
Alleging that the police used tear gas in the days following the violence last April, Shahana (30) said, “They (police) just threw (tear gas shells) at us, not at the other block. Our children felt breathless for days.”
“We saw them plant their flags. It was the maghrib (first prayer of the day) time,” she said, recalling the violence last year. Shahana added, “This time around, we were anxious. We asked everyone to stay indoors. I have never seen anything like this before.”
Mahant Mangal Das maintained that the Hanuman Jayanti procession last year was “peacefully passing through the areas” in accordance with permission granted by the police. “We are peaceful religious people. They attacked us first,” he claimed.
(This is an updated version of the report)
(With inputs from Bismee Taskin)
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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