Weird scene was witnessed in Jharkhand Assembly when BJP MLA from Hazaribagh, Manish Jaiswal stripped his kurta displaying 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan written on his vest as a mark of a protest against the ban on DJ on Ram Navami festival in Hazaribagh.
Ram Navami is widely celebrated in Hazaribagh with traditional gaiety and fervour. The celebration begins a month in advance, and a procession is held every Tuesday until Ram Navami sets in. However, the administration mandated that no recorded music be played during the procession. It also ordered not to organise traditional plays with sticks and bamboos. It also stated that no shows of acrobatics and brandishing of weapons would be permitted.
Protesting against the district administration directive, the BJP members on Tuesday raised an uproar in the House. The BJP MLAs raised slogans against the government and alleged that Chief Minister Hemant Soren resorted to appeasement politics in Jharkhand.
"Raghunath (Lord Rama) is with us then what to worry about? When you have kept your forehead in shelter, then what is there to worry about...Is Hazaribagh a part of Taliban? Where restrictions are being made on the festival of our own Lord Shri Rama and thousands of Ram devotees are being tried to be suppressed through 107?," he tweeted.
Jaiswal during question hour said that MLAs were repeatedly raising the issue of Ram Navami and informing the house that the administration in Hazaribagh had registered FIRs under section 107 of the CrPC against 5 thousand people in Hazaribagh, DJ operators are being threatened with dire consequences in case of playing the sound system during procession but the government has not taken note of the information.
The BJP MLA said that it seems that being a Hindu in Jharkhand is a crime. “Do we live with the Taliban? The minister should get up and say that if we live in the Taliban, then we will live as the government will keep us. The FIR filed against the innocent should be withdrawn. He said that the Supreme Court has ordered that the DJ can play, then why is the administration deliberately stopping it,” he shouted in House.
Recently, prohibitory orders were imposed in Panki town of Palamu district during Shivratri festival, hours after two groups clashed over installing a Toran Dwar (temporary gate) for Shivratri celebrations on the main road. As Hazaribagh is sensitive the district administration is making a close watch on the situation.
Minister Mithilesh Thakur said that the BJP is provoking the sentiments of the people. The people sitting on dharna in Hazaribagh are BJP workers, he said. The minister said that no one has stopped the procession in Hazaribagh. “There is no restriction on playing DJ and sound. There is a directive to comply with the orders of the Supreme Court and the High Court regarding the time limit and level of the voice of the DJ. We respect all religions including Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian. We have Ram in our mouths as well as Ram in our hearts. We are real devotees of Ram,” Thakur claimed.