Srinagar’s district administration on Sunday granted permission for the procession through the traditional route from Guru Bazar to Dalgate via Budshah Kadal and Maulana Azad Road.
Photo: 8th Muharram procession in Srinagar
Anti-Israel slogans were raised and Palestinian flags waved as the Shia community in large numbers on Monday took out the Muharram procession in Srinagar to mark the eighth day of mourning on the traditional Guru Bazar-Dalgate route.
The procession passed off peacefully as authorities had made adequate security arrangements.
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However, defying the directive of the local administration, a group of young mourners reportedly waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against Israel and the US.
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Srinagar’s district administration on Sunday granted permission for the procession through the traditional route from Guru Bazar to Dalgate via Budshah Kadal and Maulana Azad Road.
The procession began from the downtown Guru Bazar locality in the early Monday and passed through the designated route via Jehangir Chowk and Maulana Azad Road before culminating at Dalgate.
Thousands of mourners assembled at Guru Bazar at 5.30 am as the authorities had granted a limited time window for the procession so that normal life does not get affected.
The traffic department had issued an advisory to residents of the city on the routes to be followed during the Muharram procession, the officials said.
While the Srinagar Municipal Corporation had made arrangements for cleaning the roads, volunteers were seen offering water to the processionists.
This is for the second consecutive year that the authorities in Srinagar have allowed the Muharram procession to be taken out on the traditional route. The procession was banned after the eruption of terrorism in 1990 in Kashmir as authorities were apprehensive that separatists might misuse the large gathering for ulterior motives.
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