Buoyed by HC order, Christians celebrate Christmas eve in Birner
ALLAHABAD : Emboldened by a recent Allahabad high court order, Christians residing at Birner village in the neighbouring Kaushambi district held a prayer session during the day and participated in celebrations in the evening on Christmas eve on Sunday.
The Allahabad high court on December 22 had ruled that every citizen had the right to celebrate festivals in a peaceful manner and the authorities should not be reluctant in giving their consent, if permitted by law.
The celebration site was beautifully decorated with lights in the village, which does not have a church. Community members gathered under a hut and celebrated the occasion with prayers and hymns.
Indresh Kumar, the key organiser of the Christmas celebrations, said: “We held a prayer session during the day with a large number of our community members attending it. Later, we gathered in the evening and decorated the site with colourful lights powered by a specially procured generator set.” The district administration and the Sarai Akil police also remained alert. Superintendent of police, Kaushambi, Pradeep Gupta said the police had been stationed near the celebration venue and no one would be allowed to disrupt the celebrations.
“We have appealed to all to ensure peace and do nothing to disturb communal harmony,” he added. Inspector Umashankar Yadav of Sarai Akil police station said: “There is absolutely no restriction on celebrating Christmas where people come out of their free will. We have made adequate security arrangements and are keeping vigil.”
Some Hindu organisations had protested against prayer sessions being held in the village and claimed that forced conversions were taking place here. This had led the Sarai Akil police to raid the site on October 29 and November 5, stopping the ongoing prayer session and also sending a number of people to jail. This had led to a PIL being filed in Allahabad high court by the villagers. The bench comprising chief justice DB Bhosale and justice MK Gupta had made the observation about every citizen having the right to celebrate festivals in a peaceful manner while hearing a PIL petition filed by Sanjay Singh and 34 members of the Christian community from Birner village in Kaushambi.