The High Court has granted conditional permission to Hindu organisations to take out processions on the occasion of Ram Navami on 6 April in West Bengal. After this decision, the West Bengal government has put security agencies on high alert. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appealed to all communities not to pay heed to rumors. The state government has deployed 29 IPS officers in sensitive areas to strengthen security during Ram Navami and instructions have also been given to deploy five thousand policemen in Kolkata. Apart from this, a decision has also been taken to take photographs and videos of Ram Navami processions.
According to a senior police officer, security arrangements have been tightened after receiving intelligence about plans to create disturbance on the occasion of Ram Navami. In this regard, additional police force and Rapid Action Force have been deployed at various places including Kolkata, Murshidabad, Howrah, West Medinipur, North-South 24 Parganas, Alipurdwar, Cooch Behar.
Surveillance via drones
Two thousand rallies will be organised in the state on the occasion of Ram Navami on Sunday. BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari has claimed that 1.5 crore Hindus will come out of their homes. A control room has been set up to avoid any untoward incident, and there are plans to use drones to monitor the rallies.
Violence happened twice
There have been incidents of violence during Ram Navami processions in the state in the last two years. In 2023, three persons were killed in an incident of stone pelting during a procession in Hooghly and Howrah.
Political activities have increased in West Bengal on the occasion of Ram Navami. Shubhendu has announced the construction of a Ram temple in Nandigram like Ayodhya, the foundation stone of which will be laid on the day of Ram Navami. The BJP has made it clear that if there is any attack on the rallies, they will oppose it.
Alert in Maharashtra too
The Maharashtra government has directed the state police to remain alert on the occasion of Ram Navami. All city police unit commanders and superintendents of police have been asked to keep their personnel alert to maintain law and order.
Permission to cut off electricity during procession
The Supreme Court on Friday permitted the Jharkhand government and its electricity distribution company to cut off power supply on the routes of processions organised on the occasion of Ram Navami to avoid any possibility of electrocution. The decision was based on the appeal of the state government challenging the Jharkhand High Court order which had refused to cut off power supply during processions. A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K.V. Vishwanathan modified the High Court order and directed the Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited to file an affidavit in the High Court ensuring that power supply would be cut off to a minimum level during the procession route.
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