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Dist admn decrees ‘Lathi-less’ Moharram in Prayagraj
Following the orders, during Moharram processions, people will not carry staves or perform lathbazi, which used to be an attraction for people
In compliance with orders of the state government that no staves (Lathis) or other weapons will be carried during Moharram processions, the Prayagraj police has met taziadars and Moharram committees and have conveyed the instructions. Following the orders, during Moharram processions, people will not carry staves or perform lathbazi, which used to be an attraction for people.
The staff is the symbol of Moharram procession from Rasulpur area. The crowd in other Moharram processions like Bada Tazia and Buddha Tazia is unarmed, participants in procession from Rasulpur used to be armed mostly with staves and some of them with swords and spears.
Old city resident Mohd Baddu said as soon as youths wielding staves appeared on GT Road on tenth of Moharram, we immediately knew that the procession from Rasulpur has arrived. Bada Tazia and Buddha Tazia processions are slow in movement and it was the pressure from thousands of staff-wielding youths that Tazias move forward, he added.
Siraj, a Rasulpur resident, said that it was only the people from Rasulpur who used to display their skills with the Lathi during Moharram.
“Not only displaying skills but a group of youths used to indulge in show-fighting, which often resulted in minor injuries. This lathi fight and displaying of skills with it was the biggest attraction of Moharram processions,” he said.
Rasulpur area is inhabited by a clan of warlike Mewatis who fought the British during the First War of Independence in 1857. As a punishment their villages were burnt and thousands of them were massacred. The surviving Mewati families were uprooted from their villages that were in what is now Azad Park and its surroundings and pushed to the outskirts of the city by the British.
Despite being defeated and forced to migrate, Mewatis continued to follow their traditions of learning martial arts at akhadas, says Arif Khan, a young member of the community.
A member of Tazia committee of Rasulpur, Hafeez Khan, said that the procession on the third of Moharram was not taken out as administration refused to allow lathis.
“Lathi is our symbol and identity of our procession. Rasulpur residents are not ready to take out the procession without their Lathis,” he added.
SHO of Kareli police station Amarnath Rai said that committee members were informed about the orders that bans weapons during Moharram processions. They gave in writing that they will not take out Moharram processions, he added.
Meanwhile, Alam and Mehendi processions are being taken out by other Moharram committees in the city and in rural areas. Preparations for taking out processions on seventh and tenth of Moharram are in full swing at Bada Tazia and Buddha Tazia.
