On Saturday, March 25, Swami Omvesh, a Samajwadi Party MLA from the Chandpur assembly constituency in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh, wrote a letter to the District Magistrate seeking permission to shower flower petals from a helicopter on the Muslims offering namaz at Chandpur Eidgah on the occasion of Eid.
In his letter addressed to Bijnor DM Umesh Mishra Swami Omvesh stated, “To welcome and offer respect, greetings, and salutations to the Musalman brothers on the occasion of their holy festival of Eid, the applicant seeks permission to shower flower petals from a helicopter for half an hour on the namaz is offering namaz at the Chandpur Eidgah. The helicopter will not land anywhere during this half an hour and will return where it took off from after showering flower petals. Thus, your permission is requested.”
Media reports state that the District Magistrate has sought a report from the concerned officers and a decision will be made after receiving the report.
Swami Omvesh shared the said letter in a Facebook post captioned, “Tayyari Eid ke din Eidgah Chandpur par helicopter se pushp varsha ki” (Preparation to shower flowers on Eidgah Chandpur from a helicopter).
It is notable that the Chandpur constituency has a sizeable Muslim population. According to the 2011 census data, around 40 percent population here is Muslim.
The Samajwadi Party MLA had in November last year showered flower petals from a helicopter on devotees who arrived to take a holy dip during the Vidur Kuti Ganga Snan Mela. MLA Swami Omvesh had showered flowers on devotees from the helicopter for around three hours.
