Muharram passed off peacefully in Dehradun and other parts of the State on Saturday amidst heavy deployment of police forces. The district police had drafted elaborate traffic plan to resolve traffic snarls during the processions.
large number of Shia community people participated in Muharram processions held at various places in the State capital. Few women and children were also seen participating in the processions. The police had sealed the areas through which the processions passed. Police presence was remarkably heavy in most of the places where the day was observed. “We were vigilant and the day was observed peacefully. No untoward incident has been reported from any part of the State,” claimed a senior cop posted in the police headquarters.
Muharram is a day of mourning over the killing of Imam Hussein Ibn Ali, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, by the forces of the second Umayyad Caliph Yazid at the Battle of Karbala. Family members accompanying Hussein Ali were also killed or subjected to humiliation.
Processions started at noon from Survey Chowk and passed through various crossings before they reaching Tehsil. The commuters faced some problems as they had to change the routes to reach destination. Besides, some of the vehicles were stuck up during the time the processions passed. However, the pileup was cleared soon unlike the evening of Dussehra a few days ago when things took hours to unclog.
Dehradun traffic police officers claimed said that traffic plan being effectively executed had spared the commuters inconvenience. The routes of busses were changed at the time when the processions were being taken in the district. Adequate police forces were deployed at barricades put up to enforce the traffic rules. “The city faced no major traffic jam on the day thanks to the elaborate measures we had taken,” one of them said.
In Haridwar district too, the day passed off peacefully. SSP Senthil Akdai Krishna Raj S took stock of security arrangements at various places like Jwalapur, Ranipur, Bahadarabad, Roorkee and Kaliyar and gave necessary instructions to the police personnel on how to ensure peace during the processions.