AHMEDABAD, JUNE 22
The Gujarat High Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea filed by an NGO claiming to represent the devotees of Lord Jagannath and seeking modification of its order staying the annual Rath Yatra of the deity here due to the coronavirus pandemic.
મુખ્યમંત્રીની જગન્નાથ મંદિરના ટ્ર્સ્ટી મહેન્દ્ર ઝા સાથે બેઠક…પ્રવર્તમાન સંજોગોમાં રથયાત્રાના અંગેના આયોજનની વિગતો આપી…આજે સંધ્યા આરતી અને આવતીકાલે પહિંદ વિધિ માટે પાઠવેલા આમંત્રણનો મુખ્યમંત્રીએ સ્વીકાર કર્યો…#RathYatra2020 @vijayrupanibjp pic.twitter.com/cddNAjE9j4
— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) June 22, 2020
Courtesy: DD News Gujarati
The civil application moved by the NGO, Hindu Yuva Vahini, for urgent circulation on Monday came up for hearing before a division bench of Chief Justice Vikram Nath and Justice JB Pardiwala.
અમદાવાદ : ભગવાન જગન્નાથજીના સોનાવેશના દર્શન
જગન્નાથ મંદિરની આસપાસનો વિસ્તાર પોલીસ છાવણીમાં ફેરવાયો
સેક્ટર 1 DCP અમિત વિશ્વકર્મા પણ પહોંચ્યા જગન્નાથ મંદિર
તમામ સુરક્ષા બંદોબસ્તનું કર્યુ નિરીક્ષણ#RathYatra2020 #RathYatra @AmdavadAMC @AhmedabadPolice pic.twitter.com/INxauZrBJw
— DD News Gujarati (@DDNewsGujarati) June 22, 2020
Courtesy: DD News Gujarati
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Shri Jagannath Mandir trustee Mahendrasinh Jha had a meeting at the former’s office on Monday regarding taking out the rath yatra in Ahmedabad.
The Rath Yatra, organised annually by Shri Jagannathji Mandir Trust, is one of the most popular religious festivals in Gujarat. This year the procession was slated on June 23.
The bench refused to entertain the plea, saying the temple’s chief priest himself has told the media that on June 23, the holy chariot of Lord Jagannath and other Gods will be taken out within the temple premises to protect the health and well being of devotees.
The NGO’s plea, moved earlier in the day, urged the HC to modify its Saturday order to the extent as to allow the authorities to take out a symbolic Rath Yatra from the Jagannath temple here on its scheduled date in a limited manner with only three holy chariots and within the shortest possible route without involvement of members of the public.
The division bench had in its Saturday order said there will be no Rath Yatra this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, and no activities – “secular or religious” – associated with the event during this period.
The court’s June 20 order came on a PIL moved by a journalist, Hitesh Chavda, seeking its direction to not allow the Rath Yatra this year as it could cause coronavirus cases to rise sharply.
The Hindu Yuva Vahini, through its lawyer Vivek Bhamre, had sought to implead itself as a third party intervener to represent the devotees of Lord Jagannath, who it said, have not been represented in the PIL.
The NGO said the annual Rath Yatra, “an important event in the history of Ahmedabad,” has been taken out every year since 1878, even during curfew, and the religious event is a symbol of communal harmony.
The applicant said that while the present situation is unprecedented and the safety and security of the general public is paramount, the Yatra can be allowed in a limited form with little public participation along the shortest route possible.
“The Rath Yatra was introduced in the year 1878, and the gesture of the Lord himself coming out with his brother and sister on holy chariots is significant…Rath Yatra was not cancelled even once in the last 142 years, not even during testing times. The procession was even taken out during curfew,” the NGO said.
Police detain four as a preventive measure
Four members of different Hindu outfits in Gujarat have been detained as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order in the state as they were allegedly planning to hold Rath Yatra in Ahmedabad despite High Court orders, police said on Monday.
According to the reports, the AHP organisation, along with many other Hindu outfits had planned to gather in Ahmedabad and make a representation to the Jagannath temple trustees to continue with the tradition of Rath Yatra despite the Gujarat High Court order against it.
The Ranip police in Ahmedabad had detained the four, including Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP) Gujarat president Nikunj Parikh. The AHP and Rashtriya Bajrang Dal Gujarat unit had openly opposed the High Court’s order.
Demands by many Hindu outfits to hold the Rath Yatra on June 23 had gone viral on the social media.
According to police, AHP, Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Parishad, and Bajrang Dal etc had planned to gather at the Arjun Bhagat Aashram at Chandlodia in Ahmedabad and forward a demand to the Jagannath temple trustees to hold the procession as planned.
“We have detained four persons from these outfits as a precautionary measure. We detained Parikh and one other persons from their hosues around 2 am, while the other two were detained from Arjun Ashram at 10 am. We had deployed 8 to 10 police personal at the ashram, following intelligence inputs,” an official at the Ranip police station said.
