Srinagar, June 24 (IANS) Hundreds of Shia Muslim mourners on Wednesday joined the Muharram procession in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar city as authorities made elaborate security arrangements for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the procession.

Black flags dotted the roads as volunteers opened stalls to provide refreshments to people joining the Muharram procession, which began at Guru Bazar and culminated in the Dalgate area.

A huge number of people wearing black dresses beat their chests to remember the martyrdom of Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet of Islam.

While the volunteers at the refreshment stalls provided water and cold drinks to the mourners, the medical department had set up makeshift camps along the procession route to provide healthcare facilities.

Mourners murmured elegies in remembrance of the Martys of Karbala.

The procession moved with absolute discipline through Budshah Chowk, the Maulana Azad Road and finally to the Dalgate area.

To streamline the movement of mourners, traffic department officials had made special route regulation arrangements providing traffic-free passage to the procession and an alternative route to those coming from outside the city.

Special parking arrangements were made for people joining the procession in Batmaloo and other places beyond the route designated for the procession.

No untoward incident occurred during the procession as senior civil and police officials remained present.

Muharram processions were disallowed by the authorities after terrorism started in Kashmir in the 1990s. With the improvement in the overall situation, authorities have been allowing this traditional procession during the last three years.

As per the Shias, Imam Hussain went on the invitation of the people in Kufa along with his family and supporters to make peace, while the army of Yezid surrounded them at Karbala near the banks of the Euphrates River. Denying water even to the minor children during the siege. Imam Hussain refused to surrender to evil and chose martyrdom to write the history of the triumph of truth over evil with his blood.

The Battle of Karbala was a tragic historical event fought on October 10, 680 CE (10th of Muharram, 61 AH) on the plains near the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq. It resulted in the massacre of Husayn ibn Ali — the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad — and his small caravan by the massive army of the Umayyad Caliph, Yazid. Although Shia Muslims carry out mourning processions during the month of Muharram, the mourning to commemorate the martyrdom of Imam Hussain is common to both Shia and Sunni Muslims alike.

–IANS

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