Authorities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday denied permission for the 10th Muharram (Ashura) procession to proceed in the capital of the valley, Srinagar.
According to Kashmir Media Service, as the authorities have continued the decades-old ban on Ashura processions along the traditional route from Abi Guzar to Zadibal in Srinagar, the mourners had submitted a request for the Ashura procession from Bota Kadla to Zadibal via Mill Stop. However, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Srinagar, outright rejected the request, while the District Magistrate granted conditional approval for a heavily restricted alternate route — from Bota Kadal to Imambara Zadibal — via Alipora Chowk, Mohalla Syed Afzal Lane, Shiribhat, Alamgari Bazar, and Gassiyar Chowk.
Despite this partial approval, the conditions imposed have significantly curtailed the religious and symbolic nature of the procession. The administration’s order strictly bans all forms of “anti-India or anti-authority” slogans. It also prohibits the display of banners or posters featuring pro-freedom slogans, images of Muslim freedom fighters, or any symbols representing resistance organizations, whether local or international.
Kashmiri Shia Muslims observed Muharram with religious zeal before 1989 freedom movement. They used to take out procession 8th of Muharram. However, it was banned in 1989 by the then Governor Jagmohan. Following years of resistance by mourners, 8th Muharram procession was allowed on its traditional Gurubazar-Dalgate route by the authorities three years ago but the ban on traditional Ashura procession remains in force.