Efforts underway to arrange for Muharram elephant as Forest Department raises concerns
According to sources, the Telangana State Waqf Board (TGSWB), along with officials from other departments, have been exploring possibilities for arranging the elephant, as the procession is likely to take place on July 6 or July 7, depending on the sighting of the moon.
Correspondence regarding the arrangement usually takes place between the H.E.H. The Nizam Awqaf Committee, the Nizam's Religious Trust, and the government. However, it is the Telangana State Waqf Board that bears the costs of transporting and handling the elephant, along with other related expenses. These expenses amount to approximately ₹5 lakh, with an advance paid prior to the animal's arrival in the city.
'Of the ₹5 lakh, we have already paid ₹1 lakh as an advance to the elephant's owner. While the owner is based in Delhi, the elephant would have to be brought from Jaipur. The Forest Department has pointed out that the distance to Hyderabad is too great. We are now considering arranging for an elephant from a location closer to Hyderabad, such as Karnataka. Since an elephant is required for Bonalu as well Minister Ponnam Prabhakar is already cognisant of the matter. The issue will be resolved soon,' said TGSWB Chairman Syed Azmatullah Husseni.
Sources noted that except during the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdown restrictions were in place, the government, over the years, had consistently arranged for an elephant for both Muharram and Bonalu. They expressed confidence that a solution would be found this year as well. The sources also said that both of the Nizam's panels are on board with the current arrangements.
Meanwhile, Mir Abbas Ali Moosvi of the Anjuman-e-Tahafuz-e-Huqooq-e-Mutawalliyan Mujawareen wa Khadimeen-e-Mauroosi Ashoorkhanajaat, an association of managers of ashoorkhanas, urged the government to provide cash grants to these places of worship ahead of Muharram.
Mr Moosvi pointed out that while the Badshahi Ashoorkhana, a structure that predates the Charminar, and for which he serves as mutawalli, received ₹30,000 in aid, other ashoorkhanas in the city and across the districts — around 700 in total — are in dire need of financial support. He submitted a representation to Minister Ponnam Prabhakar seeking assistance for this purpose.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Border dispute clouds Nepal PM Oli's India visit next month
Nepal's border dispute with India over Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura resurfaced on Wednesday, weeks before Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's visit to New Delhi. The row follows an agreement between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and India's National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to reopen three trading routes, including Lipulekh. Kathmandu says the deal was struck without its consent and undermines its sovereignty. On Thursday, lawmakers across party lines raised the issue in Parliament. 'Unilaterally deciding the use of Nepali territory is not acceptable,' members declared. Kamal Thapa, Former Foreign Minister and Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal urged Oli to raise the matter in his upcoming visits to Beijing and New Delhi. Mahesh Bartaula, Chief Whip of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal-UML called the India-China understanding 'a dilution of Nepal's sovereignty.' Nepali Congress leader Bishwa Prakash Sharma said all parties were united on the issue. Oli will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in China later this month and will travel to India on September 16. Nepal's Foreign Ministry said areas east of the Mahakali River, including Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, are 'integral parts of Nepali territory.' It said India and China had been formally told not to carry out activities there. India, meanwhile, rejected Nepal's claims. 'Border trade through Lipulekh has existed since 1954. It was disrupted in recent years due to Covid and other developments. Both sides have now agreed to resume it.'
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
PWD takes possession of disputed Imambara in M.P.'s Dhar; heavy force deployed
The Public Works Department (PWD) of the Madhya Pradesh Government has taken the possession of a disputed Imambara from the local Muslim community in Dhar district under heavy police protection, authorities said on Thursday (August 21, 2025). A large number of personnel remain deployed in the area. On the intervening night of August 19 and 20, the PWD took possession of the long-disputed property from the local Tazia Committee over a month after the local Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) ruled in the favour of the department. The local Tazia Committee has challenged the move in the Supreme Court. Dhar Superintendent of Police (SP) Manoj Kumar Singh told The Hindu that at least 1,500 security personnel, including one company of the Special Task Force (STF) and two companies of the Special Armed Forces (SAF), and surveillance from neighbouring buildings as well as drones. The multi-layered security arrangements remain in place given the sensitivity of the matter, he added. A local Hindu body, Sanskritik Dharohar Raksha Manch Samiti had been running a campaign to get it vacated since 2021 and has submitted requests to the district administration. Earlier this year, the district administration issued a notice to the Tazia Committee, prompting the body to move the Madhya Pradesh High Court against it. However, in April, 2025, the High Court directed the Dhar SDM to decide on the matter, who after hearing representation from the concerned sides, declared in the favour of the PWD on July 14. The Muslim body approached the Divisional Commissioner against the order which was turned down, prompting it to move the Supreme Court. Mr. Singh said, 'The building used to be the property of the Dhar ruler earlier and had been under the control of the PWD since the independence. In 1973, the Tazia Committee took it on rent for about two weeks to prepare the Muharram tazias and has been in their possession ever since.' He said that for a month after the SDM court's order, the police and the administration had held several meetings with community leaders and bodies from both Hindu and Muslim communities to ensure that the possession can be taken peacefully. 'The situation is peaceful in the area but we have kept the security cover to prevent any incident,' he said. Dhar has been communally sensitive for years due to multiple religious disputes, including the famous Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communities.
Hindustan Times
4 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
US Supreme Court lets Trump administration cut $783 million in medical research grants
A divided US Supreme Court let the Trump administration at least temporarily cut off millions of dollars in medical research grants that government officials say don't align with the president's policies. The administration told the Supreme Court the NIH was being forced to keep paying out $783 million, though the challengers questioned that figure.(AFP) The justices partially put on hold a federal trial judge's decision that the National Institutes of Health acted in an 'arbitrary and capricious' manner when it terminated thousands of grants as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion. The decision wasn't a total win for Trump. The justices kept in place a block on NIH guidance documents that bar funding for research connected to DEI, gender-identity, vaccine hesitancy, Covid or climate change. But the court indicated on a 5-4 vote that US District Judge William Young in Boston lacked jurisdiction to order reinstatement of specific grants. Chief Justice John Roberts joined the court's three liberals in dissent on that issue. The challengers, which include research organizations and states whose universities rely on NIH funding, said the cutoff would set back crucial research by years, if not decades. 'A stay would abruptly, and in many cases permanently, halt lifesaving biomedical research that Congress has directed the NIH to fund, with irreparable consequences for scientific progress,' the groups, led by the American Public Health Organization, argued in court papers. The administration told the Supreme Court the NIH was being forced to keep paying out $783 million, though the challengers questioned that figure. 'The government is irreparably harmed when forced to pay out millions of dollars on discretionary grants, with no guarantee of recouping the money,' US Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court papers. Sauer is the administration's top Supreme Court lawyer. The case is National Institutes of Health v. American Public Health Association, 25A103.
