SRI NAGAR: After allowing the Shia community to take out Muharram processions in Srinagar after a gap of 34 years, J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in a major outreach on Saturday joined the main (10th) Muharram procession of Shia Muslims in Srinagar. It was for the first time in over three decades that the head of the state has joined the Muharram procession in J&K.
The main Muharram procession was taken out from the Bota Kadal area of downtown Srinagar after a gap of 34 years instead of the traditional route from Abi-Guzar to Zadibal. The 8th and 10th Muharram processions were banned in Srinagar after the outbreak of militancy in J&K in 1989. However, with the improvement in ground situation and considerable drop in militancy violence in Valley, the Lt Governor administration permitted the 8th and 10th Muharram processions this year.
Donned in black, Lt Sinha visited the Bota Kadal to participate in Zuljinah procession, which is observed to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (AS), grandson of Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) during the battle of Karbala.