Tension grips Kanpur over procession

KANPUR : Tension gripped the city on Tuesday afternoon after thousands of people came out on the road to take out “Juloos-e -Mohammadi”, a procession taken out annually to mark the birthday of Prophet Mohammad, defying orders issued by Kanpur police against taking out the procession in adherence to Covid guidelines.

As the number swelled, the police allowed the procession that was taken out through main roads of the city before it ended at Phoolbagh.

Additional CP, law and order,

Kanpur, Akash Kulhary said the police were in the process of lodging an FIR under relevant sections against those who were behind the procession.

“The police had spoken to all stakeholders who all had assured that no procession will be taken out in adherence to Covid guidelines,” he said while admitting local intelligence failure.

Thousands of people came out of Gwaltoli area and managed to reach Yatimkhana Chauraha where they were stopped from marching further. Their leader Zafar Hayat Hashmi, Abdul Mabood, Hashim Rizvi claimed that the administration had been informed about the procession in advance. “We came out accordingly to take out the procession as per our tradition,” they further claimed.

During the past one week, the administration held several meetings at different levels eliciting assurances from the local clergy that “Juloos-e -Mohammadi” would not be taken out. One of four Shahar Qazis, who had earlier issued a call for the procession, retracted and issued a video statement that no procession would be taken out.

Likewise, a group of people in Unnao refused to abide by the rules and took out procession late on Tuesday evening.