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Holi festivities went off peacefully across Uttar Pradesh with people from different faiths coming together in Barabanki to celebrate the festival of colours. In some areas, the celebrations were held amid tight security due to Holi coinciding with the second Friday prayers of the Islamic holy month of Ramzan. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath celebrated Holi by applying 'gulal' (powder colour) to cows and calves at the Gorakhnath temple cow shelter. Wearing his signature saffron attire, a multicolour turban and black sunglasses, the chief minister also showered flower petals and 'gulal' on the crowd during a Holi procession. Actor and MP Ravi Kishan added to the festive spirit by singing folk songs. Deputy Chief Ministers Brajesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya celebrated Holi in Lucknow. Pathak joined a Holi procession on a camel. Lucknow's Chowk area was packed with revellers, who danced to Bollywood songs and smeared bright colours on each other. Some German tourists also joined
Dressed in traditional finery, Muslims across India offered prayers at mosques and eidgahs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. In the national capital, a huge congregation gathered for the morning prayers at the 17th-century Jama Masjid in the walled city and exchanged greetings and embraces. Markets around Jama Masjid, including Chandni Chowk, Meena Bazar and Dariba Kalan, wore a festive look and saw brisk shopping for the festival. "The message of Islam is that people of all religions should live together with love and affection. This is the 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb'. There is no religion bigger than humanity," said Mohammad Gufran Afridi, a local resident, after offering prayers at the Jama Masjid. After the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasts, people made a beeline for eateries and restaurants selling lip-smacking dishes and also visited their neighbours, friends and relatives and shared sweet milk-based desserts like 'sewai' and ...
Dressed in traditional finery, Muslims across the national capital offered prayers at mosques and Eidgahs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. A huge congregation gathered for the morning prayers at the 17th-century Jama Masjid in the walled city and exchanged greetings and embraces. Markets around Jama Masjid, including Chandni Chowk, Meena Bazar and Dariba Kalan, wore a festive look and saw brisk shopping for the festival. "The message of Islam is that people of all religions should live together with love and affection. This is the 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb'. There is no religion bigger than humanity," said Mohammad Gufran Afridi, a local resident, after offering prayers at the Jama Masjid. After the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasts, people made a beeline for eateries and restaurants selling lip-smacking dishes and also visited their neighbours, friends and relatives and shared sweet milk-based desserts like 'sewai' and 'kheer'. Eid
Union Home Minister Amit Shah targeted opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, recalling the terror tag attached to Azamgarh and claiming that rural UP got 24-hour electricity only during Ramzan when they were in power. Speaking after laying the foundation stone of the Harihar music college, Shah said Azamgarh was known for terrorism during SP, BSP and Congress rule, but it is witnessing development under the BJP government. "I want to congratulate Yogi ji (CM Yogi Adityanath). In Azamgarh, which was considered the centre of terror across the country, he got the foundation of a music college laid to give respect to its heritage," he said, adding, "Azamgarh was known for Harihar 'gharana' of music, that image was spoiled by SP and BSP." Shah said Azamgarh used to face law and order problems in the past but the double-engine government of BJP has made it a centre of development. "I was the home minister of Gujarat when there were bomb blasts in Ahmedabad. The police had caught