The celebration of Bakri Eid, the festival of sacrifice, was marred in three towns in Odisha as communal tension continued to prevail on Tuesday. The festival was celebrated peacefully in other parts of the State.
Group clashes during the immersion of Lord Ganesha idols and another local deity had led to communal tension in Rourkela town in Sundargarh district, Soro in Balasore district and Pattamundai in Kendrapara district.
Eid prayers, however, were held peacefully with processions being banned by the administration at all the three places with armed security personnel standing guard on the roads. Section 144 had been clamped at all the three towns to maintain peace.
Adequate number of police personnel were deployed in the communally sensitive areas to maintain communal harmony, Director General of Police K.B. Singh told presspersons. The situation was under control, he said.
Senior officials from the administration and police were present, and meetings of peace committees were held in Rourkela and Soro during the day to restore normalcy.
The administration relaxed the restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC at Rourkela, Soro and Pattamundai from morning till afternoon for the smooth conduct of mass prayers.
Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in Rourkela late on Monday night after some miscreants hurled bricks at an idol of Lord Ganesha when the immersion procession reached minority-dominated area. Police had resorted to lathicharge and firing of teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
Similarly, a 12-hour-long curfew was imposed in Soro town from 6 p.m. on Monday till 6 a.m. on Tuesday as tension between the two communities continued to prevail for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday. Twelve persons had been arrested till Tuesday.
The curfew was reimposed in Soro town from 6 p.m. on Tuesday to prevent any untoward incident and Section 44 remained in force in sensitive areas in two other towns.
Communal tension had started in Pattamundai on Monday evening when members of the minority community opposed the use of loudspeakers and beating of drums in front of a mosque during the immersion procession of Ma Khudurukuni, a local deity.
The administration was in the process of organising a peace committee meeting to restore peace in the town.
IANS adds:
Eid celebrated in Meghalaya
Eid Al-Adha or Bakr-Eid was celebrated with religious fervour and enthusiasm across Meghalaya, a predominantly Christian State, on Tuesday.
Thousands of men and children wearing new clothes and skull caps offered prayers at Eidgahs and mosques in Shillong, Dawki, Nongpoh, Lad Rymbai and Byrnihat and in the Garo Hills.
The biggest congregation was at the Eidgah at the country’s first glass mosque, the Madina Masjid in Shillong, where over 10,000 people gathered together to offer prayers.
“We prayed for peace in our homes and in the world,” Shillong Muslim Union General Secretary Alhaj Sayeedullah Nongrum said.
After the prayers, Muslims sacrificed goats and other “halal” animals to commemorate the sacrifice made by Prophet Ibrahim.
The meat of the sacrificed animals is distributed among neighbours, relatives and the poor.
Governor V. Shanmuganathan and Chief Minister Mukul Sangma greeted the people on the occasion.
Shanmuganathan hoped that “the festival will promote tolerance, harmony and goodwill among the people of the state”.
Sangma said: “Let this feast of sacrifice reignite our commitment to serving others selflessly and further strengthen bond of love, compassion, brotherhood and harmony for the prosperity of all.” Muslims constitute 4.40 per cent of the nearly three million people of Meghalaya.
