When saints marched on Kashi’s streets of ire
Swami Avimukteshwaranand, head of Vidya Math here, on Monday said the seers would uproot the state government if chief minister Akhilesh Yadav did not apologise before batuks (religious scholars) and sadhus for the lathicharge on them on September 23.
The police resorted to the lathicharge when the batuks and sadhus had joined protests against the administration’s denial of permission to immerse a Ganesha idol in the Ganga on September 21. The administration had denied the permission in compliance with an Allahabad high court order against immersion in the Ganga.
Addressing a gathering of thousands of locals at townhall ground before starting the ‘anyay pratikar yatra’, the seer said the chief minister showed his insensitive side by not finding time to meet the batuks and apologise for the incident recently. He said their protest would continue if the CM did not apologise.
He clarified that the yatra was against anyaya (injustice) and (oppression) and not against any individual or organisation.
He claimed that Muslims of Madanpura here also supported the yatra and also kept their shops closed. According to reports several workers of the BJP, the Congress, AAP and the SP too joined the yatra. Avimuk te shwa ran and claimed the UP CM called him up during noon but he refused to speak to him.
Speaking on the occasion, Sadhvi Prachi called the UP government ‘Kansa’ which was set to ‘meet fate of Kansa’.
The seer, however, intervened after Sadhvi Prachi tried to raise the issue of Muslim appeasement, referring to the Dadri lynching and the victim’s family being given a compensation of Rs 45 lakh by the state government.
The seer clarified that from this platform no word against any caste, creed, community and organisation would be raised.
While the sad hus demanded dismissal of the UP government, they raised objection over PM Modi, who is an MP from Varanasi, praising SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and wanted the PM to withdraw his statement.
Most of the shops remained close in Lohatiya, Baansfatak and Chowk area.