Police issued prohibitory orders to ban Hindu festivals: AAP

New Delhi: AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj termed Delhi Police’s prohibitory orders against any protest or gathering in some parts of the city “Tughlaqifarmaan”, and demanded its rollback claiming it has been issued to “ban” Hindu festivals and “hurt” their religious sentiments ahead of Navratri.

The Delhi Police on Monday issued the prohibitory order against any protests or gathering of five or more persons in the central and border areas of the city for the next six days, citing law and order issues.

The order was issued under section 163 (earlier section 144 of CrPC) of the BharatiyaNagrik Suraksha Sanhita. Bharadwaj hit out at Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena and demanded his resignation, claiming he was not able to handle the city’s law and order. “This order is laughable and irresponsible; it has been issued to ban the festivals of Hindus, create chaos and harass Delhi people,” the Delhi minister said.

In a statement, Bharadwaj said, “The LG’s police is deliberately hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus ahead of Navratri and arbitrarily imposing curfew-like restrictions in Delhi.”

Navratri is going to start from October 3 and thousands will flock markets, temples, he said, asking if Delhi Police will now start arresting innocent devotees as gathering of five or more people is prohibited. “Do Hindus not have the right to celebrate their festivals under the BJP’s administration?” he alleged. Citing the prohibitory order, Bharadwaj said that the reasons cited -- MCD and DUSU polls, VIP movement and elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana -- to justify the order hold no water. Why ban festivals in Delhi if elections are being held in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir, he asked. The Delhi government minister also alleged that the law and order situation in Delhi was degrading and several gangsters were demanding extortion money from traders and businessmen in the national capital.

Bharadwaj said that even BJP leaders were not safe in the city and cited an extortion message received by a leader of the party in Uttam Nagar area. AAP national convener and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a post on X said that he was “very concerned” over the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the capital.