'Shobha yatra' will be taken out in Mewat on Aug 28, no need of administration's permission: VHP
New Delhi, Aug 26: Weeks after its procession came under attack and was stopped in Haryana's Nuh, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Saturday said a "shobha yatra" would be taken out in the area on August 28 and asserted there was no need to obtain permission from the administration for such religious events.
The organisation, however, said it would inform the administration about the procession and was open to discussion on its form and size as "we do not want to cast a shadow on a G20 event", scheduled in Nuh in the first week of September.
The Haryana government on Saturday ordered the suspension of mobile Internet and bulk SMS services in Nuh district till August 28 in view of the call for the procession.
Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, were killed in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh and its adjoining areas when the VHP procession was attacked by a mob on July 31.
Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said the yatra would be taken out by the Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat, not the VHP.
"Sarva Hindu Samaj has decided to take out and complete the yatra.... We also do not want to cast a shadow on G20 event in any way. We are ready to discuss with the administration about the size and form of the yatra to be taken out on August 28," he said.
He also appealed to people of other areas of Haryana to take out similar yatras in their respective localities and not join the one in Mewat.
"We have given a call to people to ensure that no one from outside Mewat come and join the yatra there on August 28," he said.
VHP working president Alok Kumar will join the yatra along with others from the organisation, he said.
Swami Jitendranand Saraswati, who is the president of Sant Samiti, and other "revered" sants and seers will lead the yatra, he added.
"A decision has been taken that Sarva Hindu Samaj of Mewat will take out Jalabhishek Yatra on August 28 as scheduled. There is no need to obtain a prior permission of administration for taking out such a religious yatra," Jain told reporters here.
"Does anybody take permission for Kanwar Yatra or Muharram procession....administration is only informed about such events. Accordingly, the administration will just be informed about the Jalabhishek Yatra," he added.
The Nuh authorities had recently denied permission to hold the religious procession on August 28.
Jain hoped that the yatra will remain "peaceful", claiming that Muslims of the area have offered to cooperate.
Addressing the press conference, khap panchayat leader Arun Jeldar claimed that leaders of both Hindu and Muslim communities met on August 18 to discuss the matter and offered their cooperation in completing the yatra peacefully.
"At the meeting, they also said that what happened the other day should not have happened. They also said such things should never happen and offered their cooperation in taking out a peaceful yatra. They even offered to shower flower on the yatra route," Jeldar told reporters.
In view of the yatra call, Director General of Police Shatrujeet Kapur presided over a meeting with senior officers of bordering states through video-conferencing on Saturday and called for a coordinated effort to effectively deal with the situation.
In the meeting, attended by senior police officers of Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and the Union Territory of Chandigarh, Kapur said the administration has denied permission for the yatra due to a meeting of the G20 Sherpa Group, scheduled to be held in Nuh during September 3-7, and to maintain law and order in the aftermath of the July 31 violence.
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Train to Kashmir: 22-bogie train's trial run successful on Katra-Srinagar line
Jammu: A 22-bogie train chugged between Katra and Srinagar railway stations on Sunday, officials said, marking the first successful trial run on the newly completed line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country via rail.
The train, comprising 18 AC coaches, two luggage carriers and two engines, left the Katra railway station at around 8 am, successfully reaching its destination within four hours under the watchful eyes of the railway authorities, the officials said.
This was the first trial run between Katra and Srinagar, and came within six days after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line.
He had given the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the ministry and railway authorities, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8.
The CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by a motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal.
He had then authorised regular opening of the section for passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
The work on the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and it missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra. And this section was finally completed in December 2024 as announced by the Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Katra-Srinagar Rail Link: First 18-Coach Train Completes Trial Run Successfully pic.twitter.com/p68axcUClX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) January 19, 2025
