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Warrants against 16 people ahead of planned march to Shahi Eidgah
The Mathura city magistrate has issued bailable warrants against 16 people amid a call by a Hindu outfit to march to the Shahi Eidgah mosque on December 6 and recite the Hanuman Chalisa. inside.
The Mathura city magistrate has issued bailable warrants against 16 people amid a call by a Hindu outfit to march to the Shahi Eidgah mosque on December 6 and recite the Hanuman Chalisa inside.
Police said no permission has been sought by any organisation and cases have already been registered against two people so far for attempting to gather a crowd for the event.
The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) last month urged all its leaders and supporters to arrive at the mosque, adjacent to Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi which is believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, on December 6 to recite the Hanuman Chalisa.
The body had given a similar call last year too but called it off after intervention of the Mathura police and district administration.
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“We were not prepared in 2021 as it was the first time. Our activists were targeted heavily by the police, and thus, the venue was changed and ‘jalabhishek’ was conducted at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. We are more prepared this time and activists have been asked to protect themselves,” ABHM national president Rajyashree Bose Chaudhary, who gave the call last month, said.
“The event will take place on December 6. The peaceful recital of Hanuman Chalisa will be conducted at the actual Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi between 12 and 12.30pm,” she added.
Mathura officiating senior superintendent of police (SSP) Martand Prakash Singh said no permission was sought for any such event by any organisation.
Since September 2020, 12 cases related to Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Eidgah mosque have been filed in Mathura court.
Arrests will be made if required, the official added.
Singh also said two cases have been registered against two people for alleged provocative calls ahead of the December 6 event.
“Sant Yuvraj from Mathura has been booked in a case registered at Govind Nagar police station of Mathura while Sanjay Jat, who claims to be an ABHM activist, has been booked at Kotwali police station in Mathura,” Singh said. Sanjay Kumar Pandey, station house officer (SHO) of Govind Nagar police station said these cases were filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for attempts to cause harm to communal harmony.
He added that around three dozen people have been bound by notices.Being bound by a notice is a situation wherein an executive magistrate serves a show cause notice with a surety bond to a person on the apprehension that he/she may disturb the peace and is of sufficient and is of the opinion that there are sufficient grounds to take action against the said person.
“Those who failed to respond and fill the required surety bond have been issued bailable warrants by the court of the city magistrate. Sixteen people have been issued warrants. These include four Muslims as a precautionary measure,” he said.
Their responses have been sought and if they fail to reply, non-bailable warrants will be issued against them, the SHO said.
“All required measures will be undertaken to ensure safety and security of sensitive spots; sufficient number of CRPF personnel have been deployed. If required, additional force will be called in,” Singh said.
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Chaudhary “condemned the police action against her activists”.
“We have planned a peaceful event for that day. As such, there is no reason for police to intervene because we will offer prayers at the site (land for Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi) which, in fact, was purchased by our former president Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya,” she said.
It might be added that the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya took place on December 6, 1992.
