The Jain community in Indore had sought permission to take a procession to welcome their leader Acharya Vidyasagar. However, according to a report in Indian Express, the authorities in the Madhya Pradesh told them they can take out the procession only if the rally is against the new citizenship law.
A massive controversy has erupted in Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh after the government authorities told the Jain community that they could take out a procession only if the rally was against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
The condition laid has angered the Jain community, which had sought permission for the procession to welcome a spiritual leader Acharya Vidyasagar.
While granting conditional permission in a letter dated 4 January, the SDM had put up 17 points before the Jain community. The 15th point referred to the citizenship law. The rest were concerning the “dos and don’ts” for the organisers as Section 144 was in force.
The Collector of Indore Lokesh Jatav said that an explanation had been sought from the SDM who issued the letter. However, Jatav termed it a “human error” because the administration issued similar letters to organisers who wanted to take out rallies to oppose the citizenship law.
Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya has also tweeted condemning the incident and asking if the state administration is working under pressure of Congress party.
इंदौर में कांग्रेस नेताओं को शोभायात्रा निकालने की अनुमति देना प्रशासन का फैसला है। लेकिन, अनुमति पत्र में ये दर्ज करना कहाँ तक तर्कसंगत है कि उन्हें ये अनुमति #CAA को जनहित में वापस लेने की दुआ करने के साथ ज्ञापन सौंपने के लिए दी जा रही है! pic.twitter.com/2hza80ZlzZ
— Kailash Vijayvargiya (@KailashOnline) January 6, 2020
Vinay Bakliwal, the city chief of Digambar Jain Samaj and also the president of the ruling Congress’s Indore unit, said it was an error that was corrected. He said the rally was taken out without any problem and no political slogans were raised.
