Senior UP cop defends showering flowers on kanwarias
UP cop defends showering flowers on kanwarias, says matter shouldn’t be given religious hue
MEERUT : A day after senior police and administration officials showered flowers on pilgrims on kanwar yatra route in Meerut and Saharanpur divisions, one of the senior cops who used an official chopper for the gesture, defended his action, saying it should not be given a religious hue. The officials’ gesture, meanwhile, received flak from many quarters.
NEW DELHI/MEERUT: Unruly mobs in the garb of religious devotees continued to unleash on Thursday the annual menace that citizens have come to associate with the kanwaria pilgrimage, as the police preferred to adopt a no-guns-just-roses approach to law enforcement.
Fresh incidents of violence and road blockades by several angry kanwarias were reported from UP and parts of DelhiNCR, where they were extended floral welcomes by some administrative functionaries and police officers.
Some kanwaria groups engaged in clashes with locals in places as diverse as Varanasi and Gurugram. While Delhi Police arrested one man over Wednesday’s incident of a young couple’s car being vandalised in Moti Nagar, a video of a group of kanwarias collectively destroying a police van in Bulandshahr was widely shared on social media on Thursday.
“Those involved in the incident have been identified and eight persons have been named in the case,” Praveen Ranjan, SP (city), Bulandshahr, said.
Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar led the chorus of netizens coming down heavily on kanwarias for unruly behaviour. “Public display of hooliganism should be unacceptable. Behavior of kanwarias on national highways is a public hazard. Why should state authorities not control this movement & stop loud offensive music & takeover roads for hrs. Should Hooliganism be allowed in the name of religion?” Kumar tweeted.
Facing flak over showering flowers on kanwarias from a helicopter, a senior UP police officer said the matter should not be given a religious hue.
“No religious angle should be given to this; flowers are used to welcome people. Administration respects all religions and actively takes part, even in Gurupurab, Eid, Bakrid or Jain festivals,” said Prashant Kumar, ADGP, Meerut zone.
Kumar, along with commissioner Anita Meshram, Meerut DM Anil Dhengra and SSP Rajesh Kumar Pandey showered flowers on kanwarias on the Meerut route. Saharanpur commissioner CP Tripathi, DIG Sharad Sachan, DM Alok Kumar Pandey and SSP Upendra Agarwal did the same in their respective ranges.
After violence by kanwarias in Haridwar last week, members of the Shiv Parvati Sheeshwal Dham Shiv Kanwad Sewa Samiti Mandi Adampur appealed for calm, asking participants to cooperate with law enforcement. But another group of kanwarias allegedly assaulted a man as his bicycle grazed one of them in Chawan village near Pataudi on Wednesday evening, police said. The man was left seriously injured after the attack. Rajesh Kumar, DCP, Manesar, said the victim decided against filing a police complaint.
Reacting to reports that some Muslim families in a Bareilly village left their homes recently fearing violence when the kanwarias would pass through there, police said a few people may have been away on work. Last Friday, a group of kanwarias had gone on a rampage on NH-58 near Daulrala town when a PAC vehicle hit two bike-borne pilgrims. The angry pilgrims damaged the patrol vehicle and blocked the highway. (With inputs from HTC Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Gurugram, and agencies)