In Jaipur, harried grooms pin hope on curfew passes
1,500 guests were supposed to come, but now we will be lucky to get even five passes, including for the groom S AHMED, a bride’s uncle
: Over the last two days, 65-year-old Shafique Ahmed has been making several rounds to police stations in Jaipur to secure a few curfew passes for his niece’s wedding on Monday.
His niece, Haseena Bano’s fiancé Tanvir Ahmed and his family and guests from outside require passes to enter the Walled City area of Jaipur where curfew was imposed following violent clashes between locals and policemen on Friday night. A youth was killed when police fired to disperse a mob that had gone berserk on Friday night after an alleged assault on a couple by a constable in Ramganj area of the walled city.
A heavy posse of security force was deployed after the incident, and strict checking is being done at the entry points. “They (police) are also doing headcounts multiple times for each group,” said Khalil Ahmed, who hopes to get at least seven passes for his daughter’s bridegroom and kin. The wedding is scheduled for Monday evening. But this is marriage season, said Mohammed Afzal, a local. “On an average, there are around 10 weddings scheduled every day in Ramganj,” he said adding that the curfew has taken a toll on weddings as large parties are not allowed. Around 50 weddings are scheduled this week, with 7-8 planned for Monday. Families have suffered substantial monetary losses in calling off the lavish arrangements. Most of the weddings that took place in the past two days had less than 10 guests.
“People had ordered sweets and paid caterers in advance for the weddings, believing that a large number of guests will turn up. Now, most of the food will go waste in absence of guests,” said Khalil Ahmed.