‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ Slogans Raised During Moharram Procession In Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, Four Arrested

Less than 500 metres from the Meerganj Police Station in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district, miscreants raised beheading slogans during a Moharram procession on 10 August.

After the video went viral on social media evoking strong reactions, the Jaunpur Police said on Twitter that they had arrested four people.

Moharram is an event of mourning for Muslims. However, in recent years, the occasion has been used by miscreants from the community to terrorise other communities through display of swords and sticks and playing of provocative songs.

Wednesday was the tenth day of the first month of the Islamic calendar, observed as Ashura. The month itself is called Moharram. People belonging to the Muslim community mourn for Hussain, grandson of the founder of Islam and hold processions carrying tajiya on the streets.

The processions have traditionally comprised people walking barefoot, carrying sticks and swords in their hands which they use for beating their chests and back while chanting "Ya Hussain".

However, the processions now feature DJ trucks blaring loud music, which is often communally provocative. For instance, a video that went viral on the social media earlier this year from a 2018 Moharram procession in Khargone area of Madhya Pradesh showed a DJ playing the song, ‘Kar denge tadi paar, bulaun kya Ali ko…Is baar mein mit jayega har baar ka jhagda..”.

The participants danced on these lyrics while brandishing swords and pistols outside a Hindu temple. The video was uploaded on YouTube by a user named ‘YT Aamir Khan MP10’ with the provocative caption, “Muslim Julus in Front of Mandir Ek bar me mit jayga har bar ka jaghda Khargone Muharram".

In Jaunpur, participants of the procession on Wednesday wielded swords and chanted ‘Gustaakh-e-nabi ki ek saza, sar tan se juda’ (there is only one punishment for blasphemer and that is beheading).

Watch the clip here.

After social media users tagged them, the Jaunpur Police issued a statement on their official Twitter account, informing about the arrest of four people.

Watch the police’s statement here.

The arrested suspects are Mohammad Shakeel, Abdul Jabbar, Mohammad Zeeshan and Mohammad Haris as mentioned by the Jaunpur Superintendent of Police in his statement to the media on 11 August.

A day earlier, that is on 9 August, violence broke out in a village in UP’s Bareilly district when Moharram participants pelted stones at the houses belonging to another community. Some Hindus in Majhoa Gangapur village had complained to the police about the use of DJ in Moharram procession, saying that it happened for the first time. This triggered the attack on their houses.