In the wake of Karauli violence, 17 district administrations in Rajasthan, including Jaipur, have imposed section 144 CrPC for a month starting Sunday (April 10).
The Rajasthan home department has also issued guidelines asking organiser to furnish details of the contents that will be played on DJs, loudspeakers in processions and rallies. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had earlier said that raising provoking slogans in the name of religion in rallies and playing DJs loudly are illegal.
Several shops were burnt and many people were injured in arson and stone-pelting in Karauli city during a confrontation between two communities on April 2.
As per the guidelines issued on Friday, organisers will have to submit an affidavit and a letter asking permission for procession rallies, or public programmes to sub-division officers and additional district magistrates. The officials are mandated to then verify the submitted documents through the local station house officer (SHO). The guideline also directs strict compliance with sound pollution rules.
The organisers will have to provide the registration number of the organisation, contact numbers, and the route of the procession. They will have to inform whether a DJ system will be used, and if yes, then the details of the content that will be played on it. Police in their checklists will also verify if they have examined the DJ’s contents or not.
On Friday, state police chief M L Lather had said that in the Karauli arson and violence incident, provoking slogans were raised in a minority-dominated area by those taking part in the rally. A car moving ahead of the rally had a DJ system which was playing songs of Hindu organisations.
Twenty-three people have been arrested so far out of 44 identified for the communal violence in Rajasthan’s Karauli city, the state’s top police officer said on Friday. The city has been under curfew since April 2, when a bike rally passing through a Muslim-dominated area was pelted with stones after being provoked by some incendiary remarks made by the rallygoers. A three-hour relaxation in the curfew has been allowed every day.
“So far 23 miscreants have been arrested by the police in connection with the incident that happened during the bike rally being taken out on April 2 on the occasion of Nav Samvatsar in Karauli,” Director General of Police M L Lather said at a press conference.
This article first appeared on news18.com