In the wake of the Karauli violence, 17 district administrations in Rajasthan, including Jaipur, have issued Section 144 CRPC for one month from Sunday (April 10).
The Rajasthan Home Department has issued guidelines asking organizers to provide details of DJs, loudspeakers and processions played at rallies. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had earlier said it was illegal to use provocative slogans in the name of religion and play loud DJs at rallies.
Several shops were set on fire and many people were injured in clashes and stone pelting in the town of Karauli during clashes between the two communities on April 2.
According to guidelines issued Friday, organizers must submit an affidavit and a letter asking permission to hold the procession, or hold a public program with subdivision officials and additional district magistrates. Officers have been compelled to then verify the submitted documents through the local Station House Officer (SHO). The guideline also stipulates strict adherence to noise pollution regulations.
Organizers must provide the organization’s registration number, contact number and route of the procession. Let them know if a DJ system will be used, and if so, the details of what will be played on it. The police will also check whether the content of the DJ has been checked in their checklist.
On Friday, state police chief ML Lathar said that in the wake of the Karauli arson and violence, participants in the rally raised provocative slogans in minority-inhabited areas. Before the rally, there was a DJ system in a car which was playing songs of Hindu organization.
Of the 44 people identified for communal violence in Rajasthan’s Karauli town, 23 have so far been arrested, the state’s top police official said on Friday. The city has been under curfew since April 2, when a bike passing through a Muslim-populated area was pelted with stones after being provoked by some provocative remarks made by rally protesters. The curfew allows for three hours of relaxation per day.
Director General of Police ML Lathar told a news conference that “so far 23 people have been arrested in connection with the incident which took place during a bike rally on April 2 in Karauli.”
(With input from PTI)
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