Due to stubborn attitude of the administration and Muharram committees, the most awaited Tazia procession on the day of Muharram could not take place this year in the district headquarters town here.
The district police and administration had informed the committees well in advance that there could be no display of any kind of weapon during the procession. The administration had also imposed the same restriction during the Hanuman Jayanti procession in April last.But Muharram committees of different ‘Padas’ were not prepared to accept such a condition. “Without display of weapons and acrobatics, the Muharram procession is incomplete. If there would not be permission for display of weapons, we will not go for the procession,” they had told categorically to the administration.
The history of Tazia procession in Sambalpur is 250 years old. None other than a Hindu family had started it in 1764. The then king of Sambalpur allowed the procession with all its ostentations by the Hindu family and later Muslim communities joined it.It was expected that a compromise might be arrived at and the procession might take place with a measure of restriction. However, neither the administration nor the committees budged an inch from their stand resulting in discontinuance of a long tradition.
The administration, in the preparatory meeting held earlier, had requested seven committees of the town to carry out the procession without weapons. At the same time, it had agreed to restrict display of acrobatics to stick. But the committees didn’t agree. And finally, they didn’t carry out the procession on Tuesday that the people were so excited about to see.
“The decision of the administration hurt our sentiment. Hence, we had to take such a step,” said Muhammad Sabir of the committee. But the administration has its own answer. “Show of weapon has no link with religious activities. The intention here is show of strength. Hence, we disallowed such procession in Muharram,” said a senior officer from administration.
“During Hanuman Jayanti, we didn’t allow display of weapons this year. So how could we allow the same in Muharram,” he asked.