Saharanpur: Curfew relaxed for 2 hours, Muslims offer Eid prayers

July 29, 2014

Saharanpu eid

Saharanpur, Jul 29: It was a quiet gathering of around 5,000 that offered prayers at the main Idgah in Saharanpur under the hawk eye of the top administrators in the riot-torn city.

Curfew was relaxed in parts of the district from 7am to 11am on the occasion of Eid. However, curfew will be in place on Ambala Road, the main access route to the Idgah, where rioters torched dozens of shops, vehicles, and even a fire station.

Authorities will allow people to come out again between 3pm and7pm.

After offering Eid's namaz, people went back in silence as the administration didn't allow anyone to stay there for long.

District authorities decided late on Monday to disallow people in large numbers to congregate at the Idgah, because of tension in the area following communal riots on Saturday.

Local Muslims were keen on praying at the Idgah despite an uneasy calm in the area after the bloody clashes between Sikhs and Muslims last week left three people dead and several injured.

In peaceful times, more than a lakh namazis come at the Idgah to offer Eid prayers, with the roads leading to the Idgah packed with people.

"By allowing us to offer prayer at the Idgah, the administration has done the right thing. It will help the city to return to normalcy soon," said Shahzad Hussain.

Riots have proved to be a real dampener for children who will have to remain cooped in their houses as the city administration allowed relaxation of curfew only between 7 and 11 in the morning.

"Eid is for kids and women and they have been the most quiet this time," said Mohammad Hussain who lives near the Idgah.

Three-year-old Abu Bakar came with his father Bilal Ahmad to offer prayers at the Idgah.

"Kheer is waiting for me at home," said the child who is yet to understand the complexities of the situation.

Top city administrators lead by commissioner Tanvir Ali Zafar were present at the Idgah ground to keep an eye on the proceedings.

"The peaceful Eid namaz will go a long way to help the city return towards normalcy. We wanted to ensure that no provocative message should come out from the Idgah," said Zafar.

Zafar said once the curfew is lifted from the city, the administration will sit with elders of Sikh and Muslim community to find a lasting solution to the land dispute near the gurdwara which started it all.

Curfew was relaxed from 10am to 2pm in the new city and from 3pm to 7pm in the old town areas on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday assured a Shiromani Akali Dal delegation that his government was committed to provide security and justice to everyone in the state and compensation would be paid to the victims of the communal clashes.

The delegation of Punjab’s ruling party that met the CM in Lucknow urged him to provide adequate compensation to Sikhs who became victims of the violence.

While the Congress is blaming the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the violence, SP has accused BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of colluding to create unrest.

BJP, on the other hand, says the real culprit is the Akhilesh Yadav government.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Kolkata, May 11: Murshidabad district, one of the biggest contributors to the army of migrant workers from West Bengal, received news of unnatural deaths of three of these people since Saturday. While two died in Kerala, one was found dead in a rented house in Odisha.

Residents of Baliaghati village in Murshidabad’s Suti police station area said Safikul Sheikh (31) was killed in a road accident in Kerala. Sheikh’s associates called up his family on Sunday morning and said he had gone to a local market, violating lockdown orders, when the accident took place. Sheikh wanted to return home before Eid but got stranded.

Mohammad Hafijul, one of Sheikh’s relatives, said, “A few days ago a special train from Kerala carried migrant workers to Murshidabad but Safikul did not have the money to buy a ticket. We do not know how his body will be brought back.”

In another incident, a 24-year-old resident of Domkal allegedly hanged himself in Kerala on Saturday. He used to work in a brick kiln. His mother said, “My son was depressed as he could not buy a ticket to board the special train that came to Murshidabad. We have appealed to the local administration to bring back his body.”

In the third incident, Bakul Sheikh (24) died under mysterious circumstances at Sonepur in Odisha where he went five months ago to work as a mason. Sheikh hails from Kohetpur village in Shamserganj. His relatives told the local police that his associates called up and said he was found dead inside the toilet of the house where he was living with other migrant workers.

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News Network
February 28,2020

New Delhi, Feb 28: The months of March, April and May are "likely to be warmer than normal" over northwest, west, central and parts of south India, the India Meteorological Department said today in its summer forecast.

Above normal heat wave conditions are also likely in the core heat wave (HW) zone during the season (March-May), the weather department said.

The core heat wave zone covers the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana and parts of Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

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News Network
June 6,2020

New Delhi, Jun 6: Military commanders of India and China are scheduled to meet today at Moldo on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), to discuss the ongoing dispute along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.

The Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps of the Indian Army Commander Lieutenant Gen Harinder Singh will meet his Chinese equivalent Maj Gen Liu Lin, who is the commander of South Xinjiang Military Region of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) to address the ongoing tussle in Eastern Ladakh between the two countries over the heavy military build-up by the People's Liberation Army along the LAC there.

The two sides have held close to a dozen rounds of talks since the first week of May when the Chinese sent over 5,000 troops to the LAC.

On Friday, officials of India and China interacted through video-conferencing with the two sides agreeing that they should handle "their differences through peaceful discussion" while respecting each other's sensitivities and concerns and not allowing them to become disputes in accordance with the guidance provided by the leadership.

In the last few days, there has not been any major movement of the People's Liberation Army troops at the multiple sites where it has stationed itself along the LAC opposite Indian forces.

India and China have been locked in a dispute over the heavy military build-up by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) where they have brought in more than 5,000 troops along with the Eastern Ladakh sector.

The Chinese Army's intent to carry out deeper incursions was checked by the Indian security forces by quick deployment. The Chinese have also brought in heavy vehicles with artillery guns and infantry combat vehicles in their rear positions close to the Indian territory.

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