By Omar Rashid
New Delhi: The Kanwar Yatra, meant to be a festival of religious devotion, is leaving behind a trail of violence in western Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Uttarakhand. Two days after a mob of kanwariyas brutally assaulted a Muslim man and vandalised his car in Muzaffarnagar, at least four similar incidents of wanton violence carried out by the saffron-clad pilgrims were reported from communally-sensitive regions of Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Haridwar.
The annual festival has acquired an unprecedented primacy under the rule of Adityanath, who is himself a priest-politician. As the incidents of the last few days indicate, the kanwariyas also enjoy a great deal of state-sponsored impunity.
Saharanpur
The situation is turning out to be more precarious for commuters who have to travel on the kanwar route. Among the unfortunate ones, was shopkeeper Aman Kumar and his brother-in-law Monu, who were brutally assaulted by a violent group of kanwariyas, who also vandalised Kumar’s motorcycle in the presence of police. On Tuesday night, Kumar was returning home on a motorcycle after he picked up Monu from his workplace, a multi-national soft-drink factory, in Saharanpur. When Kumar was moving from Gagalheri trijunction towards Naugaja Peer area, his motorcycle brushed against one of the kanwariyas who were walking on the road.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.