Dhar (Madhya Pradesh) [India], January 22 : As Basant Panchami falls on Friday this year, the district administration has intensified security and law & order arrangements to ensure a peaceful day at disputed Bhojshala complex in Madhya Pradesh's Dhar district.
District Collector Priyank Mishra said that the administration's primary objective was to ensure that the entire day passes peacefully and without any disturbance.
There is a disputed site, the Bhojshala complex, situated in Dhar district. For Hindus, the Bhojshala complex is a temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati), while for Muslims, it is the site of the Kamal Maula mosque. According to an arrangement in 2003, Hindus perform puja at the complex on Tuesdays from sunrise to sunset, while Muslims offer namaz on Fridays from 1 pm to 3 pm.
Collector Mishra said, "Our complete preparations are in place and keeping law and order in view, over 8,000 police personnel have been deployed, along with a large number of executive magistrates. Along with this, drone arrangements, CCTV cameras and deployment of RAF (Rapid Action Force) personnel have been made. It is our duty to ensure that law and order remains normal tomorrow under all circumstances and that no disturbance occurs. This is our primary objective."
The Collector highlighted that to ensure that tomorrow's festival passes peacefully and without any disruption, an appeal was made in this regard yesterday and meetings were held with all concerned parties for the past several months, aiming to ensure that the entire day passes in a peaceful and harmonious manner.
He further stressed about the Supreme Court hearing regarding the Bhojshala issue and appealed to the media persons not to make their own interpretations about the hearing. He added that the district administration would share the official information in this regard.
"An interim application was filed in the Supreme Court today, on which a hearing took place. I request all media persons not to make their own interpretations regarding the hearing as of now. I also appeal to the general public to trust only the information that will be officially shared by the district administration in this regard. The media will also be officially informed once the court's order is received to us," the Collector added.