Source: www.newkerala.com
NEW DELHI, INDIA, July 21, 2010: The Commonwealth Games in the city may prove a dampener for Ramlila and Durga Puja celebrations during the festive period in October. After asking schools and markets to shut down during the Oct 3-14 Games, Delhi Police now have Ramlila celebrations and Durga Puja on the radar.
“We are asking that the fairs associated with the Ramlilas be rescheduled. The fairs have no religious relevance and could be organized three or four days later,” Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S. Dadwal told reporters at the Police Headquarters. The Commonwealth Games in Delhi would coincide with the annual Ramlila fairs throughout the capital from October 7.
Organizers of the religious-cum-community events are fuming. Subhash Goyal, who organises Chandni Chowk’s popular Luv-Kush Ramlila, argued that the fairs transform the religious nature of the event to that of a community festival: “How can the commissioner say the fairs associated with these events are irrelevant? The fairs are what draw the people to them,” he asked.