A large group of people on Thursday took out a march amid heavy security deployment in Jahangirpuri here on Ram Navami in contravention of rules following which riot control force was deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
The Delhi Police had denied permission for holding the "Shree Ram Bhagwan Pratima Yatra" as part of Ram Navami mahotsav in the area where violence broke out last year during a Hanuman Jayanti procession.
The group gathered at a park in the northwest Delhi locality and performed puja there, a senior police officer said. "We deployed local police personnel, riot control force along with four companies of other forces to ensure law and order is maintained and no untoward incident takes place. The situation remained under control and people cooperated," he said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (northwest) Jitendra Meena said paramilitary forces were also deployed in the area and the event passed off peacefully. "We also conducted Aman committee meetings in the area. The organisers were advised to cut short their route to 100 metres to which they agreed and the program passed off peacefully," he said. Police also closed some streets in the area for security reasons.
While police said that around 500 people attended the procession, the organisers claimed "thousands" of people had participated. According to police, the procession started at 11.30 am and concluded around 1 pm. A total of seven processions, including the one in Jahangirpuri, were taken out in the northwest district.
In an official order earlier, ACP headquarters, Northwest Delhi, informed Hindu leaders that their request to hold Shree Ram Bhagwan Pratima Yatra to celebrate Ram Navami on March 30 cannot be allowed. “I am directed to inform you that your request for Shree Ram Bhagwan Pratima Yatra on the occasion of Ramanavami Mahotsav… has been considered by the competent authority but could not be acceded to from a law and order point of view,”
Sachin Sharma alias Mohit Sanatani, Delhi Pradesh President of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Yuva Morcha, said, "We took out the procession as a symbol of peace. We applied for permission around a month ago, however, it was denied by police citing law and order situation.
"We were preparing for the programme and two days ago, a written communication was received that the permission had been denied. We had a plan to cover four to five kilometres in the Jahangirpuri area, but it was restricted to around 200 metres," he said.
"We avoided the area where riots took place last year on Hanuman Jayanti as we didn't want to disturb our (Muslim) brothers who are fasting during Ramzan," he said. Shivom Mishra, national president of Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Yuva Morcha, said he had come from Surat, Gujarat to attend the event but several other people couldn't join due to police barricades around the park from where the march began. Mahant Mangak Das, who runs an ashram near Rajghat, said the participants followed police instructions and did not break the barricades as they are followers of Lord Ram who is a symbol of peace. The organisers of the programme also said Pinky Chaudhary, president of Hindu Rakshak Dal who was arrested for allegedly raising communal slogans at Jantar Mantar, also attended their procession.
Sheik Abdul Qadir, who has a shop near the mosque in block C where the riots took place, said, "We were assured by police that the peaceful environment will be maintained in the area. The Imam of the mosque also kept asking people to follow instructions. When the riots took place last year, my shop remained closed for 15 days. We don't want to face that again."
Meanwhile, a police officer said permission for praying at a local park during Ramzan was also denied by the authorities. On April 16, 2021, clashes broke out between two communities during the Hanuman Jayanti procession at Jahangirpuri in which eight police personnel and a local resident were injured.
