Curfew imposed in Srinagar to prevent Muharram procession

IANS, Dec 15, 2010 

SRINAGAR: Curfew was imposed in several parts of this Jammu and Kashmir summer capital here Wednesday to prevent a Muharram procession.

"Curfew has been imposed in police station areas of Kralkhud, Shaheedgunj, Maisuma, Kothibagh and Ram Munshibagh in Srinagar to maintain peace in the city," a senior police officer said here.

The curfew has been imposed to prevent a Muharram procession scheduled to be carried out from the Shaheedgunj area, half a kilometre from city centre Lal Chowk.

The procession, if allowed, will be attended by hundreds of local Shia Muslims and end at Dalgate area of the city.

The procession, on the eighth day of the Muslim month of Muharram, has not been allowed in Srinagar since the early 1990s when the present armed violence started here. Authorities have also imposed prohibitory orders, according to which an assembly of five or more people is deemed as "unlawful" in Srinagar.

(Courtesy : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com)