NEW DELHI: Amid extensive multi-layer security arrangements in place to deter any untoward situation, two massive religious processions peacefully passed off the streets of northwest Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area on Thursday on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti.
Initially, the Delhi Police had denied the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Hindu Vahini, permission to hold any religious procession in the Jahangirpuri area, however, later after discussion with the organisers, the police gave them a go-ahead but within a specific stretch.
The Hindu Vahini was permitted within a 200-metre radius in H-Block, while the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s rally was permitted only within E-Block. Last year on April 16, after a gap of two years, Delhi witnessed violent communal clashes in the Jahangirpuri area of the city in which eight police personnel and civilians sustained injuries. The clashes broke out during a religious procession on Hanuman Jayanti.
Fortunately, there were no casualties. The violence broke out in the evening and within hours, the Delhi Police contained the situation with the help of paramilitary forces. By 8 p.m., the situation was under control, yet tense. Months later, the Crime Branch charge-sheeted 37 people in connection with the riots. Anticipating a repeat of the 2022 communal riots, the police this time maintained adequate security arrangements in the area and several companies of the paramilitary force, the rapid action force along with hundreds of Delhi Police police personnel were deployed there.
Special Commissioner of Police Deependra Pathak said the police have made full-proof security arrangements in the city to prevent any law and order situation. “After considering all perspectives whether it is having conversations with the members of different communities, keeping communication with the organisers of such religious processions, and keeping the presence of experienced and senior police officers when the procession is being carried out, we have done everything to ensure that the occasion is celebrated within a safe and secure environment,” the Special CP said.