by Scroll Staff
The authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Sunday began covering 72 mosques and mazars along the routes of the traditional “Joota Maar Holi” procession with tarpaulin sheets, IANS quoted Municipal Commissioner Vipin Mishra as saying.
In recent years, religious processions in several states have led to instances of communal violence.
Holi in Shahjahanpur is marked by a “Laat Saheb” procession, during which participants throw footwear at a man impersonating a British officer seated on a bullock cart. The procession begins with prayers at the Phoolmati Devi temple and then moves through the city, PTI reported.
Holi will be celebrated on March 4 this year.
“Shahjahanpur’s small and large Laat Saheb processions are an integral part of the city’s historic tradition,” Mishra told IANS. “Covering religious sites is a purely precautionary step.”
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