A section of devotees taking part in Ram Navami and tribal festival Sarhul have termed the state government’s restrictions on processions “illogical”.

The Jharkhand government had on Wednesday evening issued a notification allowing religious processions with certain conditions in view of the upcoming Sarhul and Ram Navami festivals.

The notification issued by the state disaster management department and signed by chief secretary Sukhdev Singh also said that all processions, barring religious ones, would remain prohibited.

Sarhul will be celebrated on April 4 and the Ram Navami procession will be taken out on April 10.

The order stated that the number of persons in any religious procession should not exceed 100. Even if multiple processions converge at a place, the total number of people should not be over 1,000.

The religious procession should conclude by 6pm and playing of pre-recorded music will be prohibited, the order stated. The participants should sanitise their hands and wear masks.

Former president and current convener of Shri Mahavir Mandal Ranchi, Rajiv Ranjan Mishra, rejected the conditions put on attendance at the procession and its timing.

“We do not know if the bureaucrats have any knowledge of the festival and the way it is celebrated in the state. Nobody who has served in Jharkhand could have drafted a notification with such illogical conditions on the occasion of Ram Navami. We are going to write to chief minister Hemant Soren expressing our objection to the restriction on 100 persons in a procession and also on fixing the time limit till 6pm,” Mishra said.

He said they would openly violate the notification if the need arose.

“We do not care if cases are lodged against us by the district administration. It is a case of religious sentiments and we would observe it as per our tradition. It is not possible to cut down on the number of devotees who throng the procession of Ram Navami. It is also hard to imagine the processions completing their immersion before 6pm,” Mishra added.

Kendriya Sarna Samity's Ranchi general secretary Krishna Kant Toppo said it was very difficult to restrict the number of devotees during Sarhul procession.

“It is a tradition for women and men to dance in large numbers and take part in the procession and it is very difficult to contain it to 100. Usually the procession extends till late night. We will meet Ranchi district administration and appeal to the government to permit the procession till 11pm,” Toppo said.