Srinagar, July 10: In yet another display of communal harmony, a prominent Kashmir Pandit, Satish Mahaldar, has written to the government of Jammu and Kashmir, seeking lifting of ban on the Ashoora procession in Srinagar.
Satish Mahaldar, Chairman of JK Peace Forum, has written a letter to the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo and Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.
“May I submit as under for your early and prompt consideration that ban on historic Muthida Jaloos e Ashura Procession Muharram from Abi Guzur, Lalchowk to Ali Park Zadibal Srinagar is still in place. That by your efforts and interventions ban on 8th Muharram Procession last year in 2023 from Gurubazar to Dalgate route in Srinagar was lifted after 30 years and the said Muharram procession was carried out peacefully,” the letter reads.
Pertinently, Muharram is one of Islam’s holiest months when Shia Muslims across the world take out processions to mourn the martyrdom of Husayn Ibn Ali al-Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad, who was martyred in 680 AD at the Battle of Karbala, which is in present-day Iraq.
Last year, the Jammu and Kashmir administration allowed the 8th Muharram procession through the heart of Srinagar, after having had it banned for more than three decades. However, the procession on Ashoora—10th Muharram continued to remain banned and was not allowed last year also.
