GANDHINAGAR: A day after the Gujarat government capped the number of persons who can be part of an Eid procession at 15, it revised the decision on Monday to allow 400 people to gather in an Eid-e-Milad procession if it moves within a locality, colony or street and does not go out of that area.
The announcement came a day after three Congress MLAs — Gyasuddin Shaikh, Imran Khedawala and Mohammad Javid Pirzada — urged the state government to raise the limit on participation in a procession from 15 people to 400 people. The state unit of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also had demanded that 400 persons be allowed in an Eid procession.
Eid-e-Milad will be celebrated on Tuesday to mark the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad.
In a ‘clarification’ issued on Monday, the state government said, “400 people can take part in a procession, if it moves within a locality, mohalla or street and does not go out of that limited area”. If the procession goes out of the area, only 15 people will be allowed in it according to the guidelines issued on Sunday, said the latest release.
At present, night curfew between 12 midnight and 6am is in place in eight major cities of Gujarat and the state government has already given permission to organise religious, political or social gatherings with a limit of 400 guests, said the release.
For the just-concluded Navratri festival, the state government had allowed garba dance celebrations in residential societies with participation of a maximum of 400 persons.
