In a bid to ensure peaceful and incident free Durga Puja and Moharram, Uttar Pradesh government has banned playing of DJ (Disc Jockey) and imposed limit on the height of Durga idols and 'Tazia' (a replica of the tomb of Hussain, the martyred grandson of Prophet Mohammed, carried at processions during Moharram).
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the authorities to strictly impose ban on DJ and not to start any new tradition on Durga Puja and Moharram.
''Loudspeakers may be used with the permission of the local authorities,'' a senior government official here said quoting the chief minister.
Incidentally Moharram this year falls a day after the last day of Dussehra festival, when the Durga idols are immersed.
According to the sources here, Adityanath has also asked the authorities to make sure that the Durga idols and 'tazias' are not so high that trees or some other construction would have to be felled or demolished for their passage.
He also made it clear that under no circumstances the routes fixed for the Moharram processions or Durga idols' immersion be changed.
Sources said that the chief minister has warned that the concerned police officials would be taken to task in the event of any incident.
The chief minister has also directed the police officials to identify the criminal and anti-social elements and take stern action against them before the beginning of the festive season.
''Meetings of the peace committees should be held before the Durga Puja and Moharram to solicit cooperation of both communities in peaceful celebration of Durga Puja and during Moharram processions,'' the official said.
UP has a long history of sectarian and communal violence during Durga Puja and Moharram. In the state capital shia and sunni communities often clashed during the Moharram processions.
Published 18 September 2017, 13:03 IST