The historic Bibi Ka Alam procession was taken out on Sunday by Shia Muslims observing Muharram, with a marked departure from its 400-year history of taking the service of an elephant. The procession was taken out instead on a van even as hundreds of Shia Muslims took part in the event.
The Hyderabad city police gave permission for the procession late Saturday despite the COVID-19 pandemic related guidelines from the Ministry of Home Affairs to not permit religious or social gatherings. The annual procession began at 11:30 am from Bibi ka Alawa at Dabeerpura to Masjid-E-Ilahi at Chaderghat till 3 pm.
The procession was carried out after the Telangana High Court declined several petitions seeking permission. The court had instead directed the Hyderabad city police commissioner Anjani Kumar to consider the application. Several leaders of the Shia Anjumans met with senior police officers assuring them that the procession will adhere to the Ministry of Home Affairs guidelines on physical distancing.
In the meantime, the Khairathabad Utsav committee announced that the annual Ganesh Shobha Yatra (Ganesh Immersion) will be held on September 1, reported Times of India.
The committee had earlier announced that the nine-foot-tall clay Ganesh idol will be immersed at the pandal, however, on Sunday the Utsav Committee president S Sudershan clarified that the procession will begin at 3 pm and will be completed by 5 pm at Hussain Sagar lake.
The procession will begin from Khairathabad and move towards Telephone Bhavan to reach NRT Marg and Telugu Talli flyover, a distance of 1.5 km. The Hyderabad police had earlier denied permission for the procession, but the committee expressed its intention to hire private security for crowd management.
Under the Unlock 3 guidelines of the MHA, no religious or social gatherings are permitted. However, the Unlock 4 guidelines allow social, academic, sports, entertainment, cultural, religious, political functions and other congregations with a ceiling of 100 persons. However, the rule is to come into effect only from September 21. The mandatory wearing of face masks, physical distancing, provision for thermal scanning and hand wash or sanitiser are compulsory.
