Curfew in Ajmer, Muharram observed with solemnity

NEW DELHI, APRIL 5. Curfew was clamped in Ajmer district of Rajasthan following communal violence and police used force to stop a procession in Srinagar as Muharram, commemorating the martyrdom of Hazrat Ismail Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed, was observed with solemnity across the country today.

Devout Muslims beat their chests with bare hands and iron chains and took out Alam and Tazia processions to mark the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the New Year according to the Islamic calendar.

Curfew was clamped on Nasirabad town of Rajasthan's Ajmer district after eruption of communal violence over the route of the Tazia procession, police said.

In Srinagar, police used force to foil repeated attempts by the Shia community to take out processions in defiance of restrictions and detained 50 people, including four senior Hurriyat leaders.

In other parts of the Valley, Muharram was observed peacefully.

In Purnea in Bihar, liquor bottles thrown by processionists at a shrine sparked tension with mobs blocking roads with blazing tyres today as a bandh was observed in protest, district officials said.

The mobs forced closure of shops and business establishments and made bonfires of tyres at several places affecting traffic in the town

- PTI

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