UP school teacher booked for reciting poem allegedly critical of Kanwar Yatra
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Lucknow: A school teacher in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly has been booked for reciting a poem critical of the Kanwar Yatra, The Indian Express reported.
Rajneesh Gangwar read out the poem to the morning assembly in the school sparking protests among residents.
As the footage of the recitation went viral, the resident sought action against the government school teacher.
A First Information Report was filed following the complaint by the Kanwar Seva Samiti.
Rajneesh Gangwar faces charges under a section of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita about statements causing public mischief.
The newspaper reported citing Baheri Station House Officer Sanjay Tomar that Gangwar has not been arrested so far.
Gangwar was seen in the footage as reading out that one should not ‘embark on the Kanwar Yatra’, but instead ‘light the lamp of knowledge’.
During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees called Kanwariyas from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from Ganga near Haridwar.
They would carry the water home to offer to temples in their neighourhood.
Started on July 11 Saturday, this year’s Kanwar Yatra will conclude on August 9, according to the report.