With the Muharram and Taziya procession approaching, the administration in Pratapgarh has gone on high alert. Police have placed 13 people under house arrest at Bhadri Mahal, among them Raja Uday Pratap Singh, the father of Kunda MLA Raja Bhaiya. The detention runs from 5 am on Thursday until 9 pm on Friday, and the Kunda Kotwal has pasted the official notice on Bhadri Mahal.
As a precaution, a heavy police force has been deployed outside the palace so that the procession passes off without any trouble and communal calm is maintained.
Why This Happens Every Year
For several years now, the district administration has confined Uday Pratap Singh and his supporters during the Muharram and Taziya procession to safeguard law and order and preserve communal harmony. This year too, the same action has been taken under that established pattern.
The real reason lies in the route of the procession. On the day of Muharram, Raja Bhaiya's father announces a bhandara at the Hanuman temple, but the police do not grant permission for it. That is because the Muharram procession passes along the very road that runs by the temple. To ensure the procession moves peacefully and without disruption, the administration falls back on this measure every year.
A Dispute Rooted in 2012
The entire conflict dates back to 2012. In Shekhpur village of Kunda, the death of a monkey triggered a row over the construction of a Hanuman temple and the holding of a bhandara on Muharram day. Since then, to keep the peace, the SDM and the police have stationed a large force outside his house and placed him and his supporters under house arrest.
