Tag: Kanwariyas In Uttar Pradesh

Kanwariyas Protest Over Seizure

Kanwariyas Protest Over Seizure Of DJ Vehicle In Jaipur

By LokMarg

A large number of Kanwariya pilgrims on Sunday staged a sit-in protest outside a police station in Rajasthan’s Jaipur after police personnel seized their DJ vehicle from the Jaipur-Ajmer Highway on Sunday.

Kanwariyas were coming from Maleshwar Dham on Sunday when they were stopped, and their DJ vehicle was seized by police near Bagru village in Jaipur.
After the police seized that DJ the pilgrims got furious. The tension spread to the surrounding areas and other groups of Kanwariya assembled together at the police station and started protesting. Along with the pilgrims, villagers also participated in the demonstration.

To avoid any untoward incident during the protest, heavy police forces from six stations including Bagru, Bhankrota, SEZ, Bindayaka, Kalwad, and Karnivihar were deployed. Riot control vehicles and additional police force including Bagru, Bhankrota, SEZ, Bindayaka, Kalwad, and Kaand Ranivihar were also present during the demonstration at the police station.

Former Pradhan Kailash Kumawat, Bagru Nagar Vyapar Mandal President Ravi Ganesh Agarwal, former Zilla Parishad member Gopal Meena, Kamal Tilyawas, former Municipal Vice President Shankar Gared, Councilor Nitin Bhardwaj, Giriraj Chowdhary, Sonu Kumawat, Lakhan Gadhiwal, Dahmi Kala Sarpanch Ganesh Kumawat, Subhash Dhasania were also present along with the Kanwariya pilgrims during the protest.

Bagru ACP Anil Sharma reached the spot to settle the matter by talking to the Kanwariyas. However, the Kanwariyas demanded that the DJ vehicle should be released, and they should be allowed to use it during the Yatra.

The Kavadis alleged that the police do not stop DJs from playing in political programs but they do so when DJs are played in religious functions.

The police then cited the orders of the Jaipur Police Commissionerate that mandated DJs to be banned based on which the police had taken action against them.

The demonstration was finally called off after four hours during which several rounds of talks were held between the police and the Kanwariya pilgrims.

“There is a complete ban on the use of DJ system, but the Kanawariyas were found playing DJ system on a vehicle and on the basis of which the action was taken,” Anil Sharma, ACP, Bagru said. (ANI)

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‘UP Admin Was Super-Efficient In Managing Kanwar Yatra’

By LokMarg

Yudhishthir Chaudhary, 47, who took up Kanwar Yatra to detoxify his body and soul, says there were some disturbing trends in the pilgrimage this year

It was my third Kanwar Yatra, which I took up after a gap of two years due to Covid restrictions. I must say the ‘josh’ of the pilgrims was very high this time. I took the on-foot journey from Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar and back, which took six days. Allow me to share my experience during the Yatra – both good and worrisome.

First, I am a wrestling coach and take up the Kanwar Yatra as detoxify of my body and soul. The journey is a kind of ‘tapas’ (penance). The gruelling trek is mixed with devotion and it is both refreshing and painful at the same time.

Barring a few incidents of unsavoury clashes amongst various groups of Kanwariyas, our journey was peaceful. This year, the police and administrations of the districts that our group passed through were extremely active and sensitive to any untoward incident.

The moment we thought of taking a rest or looked around for a place for a night halt, the officials on duty were quick to offer any assistance needed. I have never seen such efficiency from Uttar Pradesh Police or sarkari officials. And for this, I would like to thank chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the professional arrangement.

I did not see any religious animosity or tension throughout the journey. I hope everyone learns from this experience and never stoop to hurt any religious sentiments.

One worrisome trend I came across this year was that many participants of Kanwar pilgrimage were indulging in ‘sulfa’ abuse. Sulfa is an addictive practice of sniffing a chemical solution to get intoxicated. There were others who openly smoked other drugs. Some of these high-on-drugs teens and youth were also found involved in theft of other pilgrims wares, probably to buy drugs. This not only brings a bad name to the Yatra but is also a law and order headache for the policemen on duty.

Another irritant was the excessive use of mobile phones by the younger pilgrims. They were mostly busy in recording short-clips on their phones for probable upload on social media. At one point, I saw several of these boys making a film of an elderly pilgrim who was nearly drowning at a ghat. We rushed to help the pilgrim and save him. When I chided the boys who were filming the tragedy instead of helping a victim, they became violent.

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If we cannot learn to be a better human being from a religious practice, what is the use of setting out on a spiritual procession? I would urge the Yatra administration to discourage the pilgrims from filming others without permission.

Overall, I would say that the UP government has upgraded and improved the Yatra experience by providing all possible assistance to the pilgrims. This is actually in stark contrast with the previous Akhilesh Yadav regime, which often let to lathicharge on Kanwariyas. Good policing is not allowing an incident to flare up during large procession. This efficiency was in place this year.

As told to Rajat Rai