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HYDERABAD, INDIA, September 27, 2004: Police here Monday heaved a sigh of relief as the Ganesh procession passed off peacefully amid tight security and rare scenes of communal harmony. City police chief R.P. Singh told a news conference that no untoward incident was reported. As the procession started late, icons were being carried to Hussain Sagar lake in the heart of city for immersion till late in the evening. Majority of vehicles carrying icons passed the communally sensitive old city and crossed the Musi River. Some 1,400 icons were immersed in the lake till 4 pm and another 8,000 would be immersed by late evening. About 10,000 icons were immersed during the last two days.



Life came to a standstill in Hyderabad and its twin city Secunderabad as thousands of vehicles carrying the icons of different shapes and sizes choked all major thoroughfares. About one million people participated in the procession. The annual procession, which marks 10 days of festivities, passed off amid fears of communal violence in view of last month’s arrest of eight alleged operatives of terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba on charges of planning to blow up a Hindu temple during Ganesh festival. However, the 25th year of Ganesh procession witnessed rare scenes of communal harmony. For the first time, a Muslim minister and a Muslim police officer welcomed the Ganesh procession at the historic Charminar, which is also one of the sensitive points in the walled quarters, and at Moazzam Jahi Market. Minister for Information And Public Relations Mohammed Ali Shabbir and additional commissioner of police A.K. Khan welcomed the procession from the dais erected by Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti.



For the third consecutive year, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has a strong base in the old city, erected a special dais to welcome the icons. Its Hindu corporators S. Rajmohan and M. Durga Singh made arrangements for distributing drinking water and “prasadam” among people. Peace committee comprising both Hindus and Muslims also supplied drinking water to devotees. Confederation of Voluntary Organizations (COVA), working for communal harmony, also assisted police in the smooth conduct of the procession. “God is one, but we celebrate festivals in different ways. We should have no ill will towards each other,” said another volunteer Afsar Khan.



The entire police top brass and more than 22,000 policemen were deployed for maintaining law and order during the procession. Surveillance cameras were installed at vital points to keep an eye on the movement of miscreants. Bomb disposal squads and anti-sabotage teams were also pressed into services. A helicopter carrying senior police officials hovered in the sky to keep an eye on the procession.

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