Chennai News

Greater Chennai Police Issues 11 Commandments On How Vinayagar Chaturthi Should Be Celebrated

September 18, 2023
The Commune

On the eve of the annual Vinayagar Chaturthi celebration, the Greater Chennai Police has issued a set of guidelines on how Hindus should celebrate the festival. 

The police have issued 11 sets of guidelines which is being considered as draconian by many making it very difficult for Hindus to celebrate Vinayagar Chaturthi.

A few Vinayagar Pandal organizers that The Commune spoke to said that the process of setting up Vinayagar Pandals has been made extremely bureaucratic, cumbersome and taxing so as to delay or prevent people from erecting one.

Here are some of the commandments issued by the police regarding installation of idols asking organizers to get 

1. Landowners where Vinayagar idols are going to be installed must have obtained permission from local bodies concerned, Highway Department or Government Department.

2. Must have obtained No Objection Certificate from Fire Department, Electricity Board, etc.

3. Obtain permission from the police station officer concerned by filling up the forms for installation of Vinayagar idols, undertaking to abide by the restrictions and conditions mentioned therein.

4. The height of the statue to be installed should not exceed 10 feet from the base of the platform.

5. Installation of idols near places of Worship, Hospitals, Educational institutions should be avoided.

6. Two volunteers should be deputed on a 24-hour rotation to ensure the safety of the idols.

7. Banners/billboards in support of any political parties or religious leaders should not be placed at the worship point.

8. Fire safety rules and regulations must be followed, electrical wire connections; Pandals should be monitored periodically to avoid accidents and mishaps.

On the other hand, the Greater Chennai police has given said that shouting slogans that incites “religious hatred” or “hurts the sentiment of other religions” is not allowed. This is being seen as a vague diktat to launch a crackdown on people aligned with a particular ideology as it comes at a time when the political climate is vitiated with even chants of “Jai Shri Ram” being construed as “hurting sentiments of other religion”. The is also a ban on bursting of firecrackers when Vinayagar idols are taken for immersion.

 

While it is good that the Greater Chennai Police is taking precautionary measures to ensure a smooth celebration of the festival, it has also raised questions about why they failed to show such concerns for AR Rahman’s recent concert in Chennai which turned out to be a nightmare due to crowd mismanagement with stampede like situations, women getting molested and traffic snarls.

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