Kanwar Yatra: Cloth sheets go up in front of mosques, mazars in Haridwar
Haridwar, large white screens were recently installed in front of a few mosques and mazars along the Kanwar Yatra route «to prevent trouble». The sheets were hung on bamboo scaffoldings in front of two mosques and a Mazar, all in the Jwalapur area.
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Satpal Maharaj, a senior Uttarakhand cabinet minister, defended the action. «This has been done so that there is no unnecessary excitement or provocation from any side and the yatra runs smoothly,» he said. Acknowledging it as a first-time measure, he added, «Govt will look at the feedback over the move.»
The mosque's maulana and the mazar's caretakers told PTI that they were not aware of any administrative order in this regard and claimed this was for the first time that such a step had been taken during the yatra.
Several kanwariyas considered it «unnecessary.» Many Hindu residents of Haridwar also questioned the initiative. A local resident labeled it as «condemnable.»
Haridwar District Magistrate (DM) Dheeraj Singh Garbyal clarified that the district administration was not responsible for the step.
On Friday afternoon, as news of the screens spread, special police officers (SPOs) and volunteers were seen hastily removing them from several locations. Danish, an SPO, said, «I’m doing it at the behest of Jwalapur railway police post.» He refused to disclose who had ordered the screening of the mosques and mazars.
