J&K Police File FIR Over Pro-Palestinian, Pro-Hezbollah Sloganeering During Muharram Procession
Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir police have registered an open FIR under the relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) following pro-Palestine and pro-Hezbollah slogans were allegedly chanted by a section of mourners during a Muharram tazia procession taken out in Srinagar on Monday.
Justifying it, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), Vidhi Kumar Birdi, said, “Certain conditions were laid down to ensure smooth conduct of the procession. But some mischievous elements violated these conditions and tried to vitiate the atmosphere, prompting the police to act as per law.”
The police have cited concerns over the potential for such slogans and flags ‘inciting unrest and disturbing public order’. The police appealed to the people to refrain from activities that could disrupt communal harmony during the sensitive period of Muharram.
The police sources said that following filing an open FIR at Srinagar’s Kothi Bagh police station, several suspects were summoned there for questioning. A police source said that those who had waved the Palestinian flag and chanted anti-US anti-Israel and pro-Hezbollah slogans during the procession are being identified through the photo and video footage of the procession.
The police sources said that the investigation in the case is underway and formal arrests may be made after its completion. The sources said that the case has been registered under section 13 of the UAPA and sections 223 and 152 of the BNS.
Various Shia outfits have alleged that the police detained dozens of Shia youth after they waved Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestine and anti-US and anti-Israel slogans during the procession. They said that the police have also removed the Palestinians flags put up at places in Srinagar areas and the central district of Budgam.
National Conference MP Aga Syed Ruhollah Mehdi in a post on ‘X’ said, "The Jammu and Kashmir police have arrested several youths for raising slogans in favour of the people of Palestine and carrying the Palestinian flag in a Muharram procession yesterday in Srinagar."
He added, “This is an assault on freedom of expression and that too an expression in favour of the oppressed people. As conveyed through telephonic conversation, the Police should release these men and avoid treating them as criminals.”
Shia cleric Aga Syed Mohammed Hadi has justified the waving of Palestinian flags by youth in Srinagar and Budgam, saying, “The mourning for Imam Hussain is a means of remembering his suffering and an act of protest against oppression. If we don’t remember and show our sympathy with the oppressed people of Palestine, the mourning for Hussain and other martyrs of Karbala becomes meaningless”. He also criticised the role of the police in suppressing such activity.
Meanwhile, huge mourning processions were taken out across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on Wednesday on Ashura to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Hussein ibn Ali and his 72 family members and companions in the Battle of Karbala (Iraq) in 680 AD. The police said that the processions passed off peacefully and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.
