It was Holi day in 1999 when Haj pilgrims were to board a train from the communally sensitive town of Mau in UP to Delhi and the administration had to impose prohibitory orders on the loco pilot to temporarily stop the train. The administration had taken this step to prevent the white-robed (Muslim) pilgrims from coming face to face with hooligans celebrating the festival of colours, Holi. Exactly 26 years later, the situation is similar again. Holi is on Friday. The month of Ramzan is going on and the administration in various states, especially in Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh, is gearing up to ensure that Jumme ki namaz and Holi are celebrated peacefully.

This happened for the first time in the history of India...

The challenges faced by the officers in Mau during the month of Falgun in 1999 have been detailed in the book "Through My Eyes: Sketches from a Cop's Notebook" by former Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) O P Singh. He has written in the book that the railways rejected the officers' request to delay the train arriving in the afternoon by a few hours till the Holi festival was over, after which the officers in Mau imposed prohibitory orders on the loco pilot (train driver). In the chapter titled 'Train under Section 144 of CrPC', the former state police chief has said, "This is the first time in the history of India that the order under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which is generally used to prohibit unlawful assembly and to prevent disturbance of peace, was used not to control the crowd but to stop a moving train."

Hajj pilgrims were leaving on the day of Holi

He has written in the book that a large number of Haj pilgrims were to leave on the day of Holi that year. They were to board a train from Mau to Delhi. This was their first stop before boarding a plane to Mecca. The train was to arrive in the afternoon, exactly when the festival of Holi is at its peak.

Help was sought from railway officials

According to the book, the district administration had already foreseen that there would be no escape for the Muslim pilgrims, dressed in white, caught in the jubilant atmosphere on the roads. Keeping in mind the history of communal clashes in the district, the officials sought help from the railway authorities and "requested that the train be delayed for a few hours". However, the railways refused, saying that the timetable of trains cannot be changed, no matter how sensitive the situation is. Also, "punctual operations" are of utmost importance for the railways.