Mosque gets covered in Haridwar due to Kanwar Yatra

Haridwar: In the controversy, violent incidents, damages, etc., ridden Kanwar Yatra pilgrimage, more incidents worth of headlines are coming out. In Uttarakhand's Haridwar, two mosques and a Mazar located along the Kanwar route are hidden from view using large white sheets on Friday morning, at the latest.

The mosque and the Mazar are located in the Jwalapur area, through where the Kanwar Yatra passes, and the covering of mosques is the first time regarding the pilgrimage.

Though the district administration claimed that it had not issued an order to veil the Muslim religious establishments, and police removed the same, saying it was a mistake, the district-in-charge minister Satpal Maharaj said that the mosques were covered to prevent violent incidents and smooth progression of the pilgrimage procession. He justified that if construction is happening, that is also covered.

TIE quoted Satpal Maharaj "If this is done, there will be no agitation and no flare-up. It was kept in mind that our Kanwar Yatra should go smoothly. When there is any construction, that structure is also covered… We have done (the same) here and will see what feedback we get. We will study that."

Talking to TIE, Haridwar City Superintendent of Police Swatantra Kumar said that there was no order from the district administration or the police to cover the religious establishments. He said that they had talked to the concerned party and removed the covers. After talking to locals, they have installed barricades too on the Yatra route. The officer believes that there must have been some mistake and that it wasn't intentional.

A series of violent incidents have been reported in relation to the Kanwar Yatra, turning the pilgrimage event into a stage for Kanwariyas (the devotees undertaking the Kanwar Yatra) to engage in violence and vandalism. The latest among them took place today in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, where a group of Kanwariyas vandalized a car and assaulted its Muslim passengers over an allegation that the car had broken their Kanwar by coming from the wrong side.

On Wednesday, a group of Kanwariayas had beaten up a mentally ill person at Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar. It was only police intervention that saved the man's life. There was an incident on Tuesday, too, from UP's Saharanpur. A group of Kanwariyas created a ruckus, started violence, mercilessly beat up a bike rider and destroyed his bike. The attack was after blaming the biker for damaging their Kanwar.