New Delhi: Police in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar yesterday (July 26) evening removed large cloth sheets covering the facades of two mosques and a shrine along the route of the kanwar yatra in the city, news reports said.
Speaking to the Indian Express, Haridwar city superintendent of police Swatantra Kumar said the administration did not order the use of the covers and that what happened was “not intentional”.
“We have also talked to the party concerned and removed the covers. We have talked to the locals, too. Barricades were being installed on the yatra route, and there must have been some mistake in that, leading to the covers. It was not intentional,” Kumar was quoted as saying.
PTI reported that the white sheets were removed following objections from locals and politicians. Local police as well as special police officers appointed in view of the kanwar yatra removed the sheets, according to reports.
Although the local administration reportedly denied ordering that the mosques and shrine be covered, Haridwar district in-charge minister of the state BJP government, Satpal Maharaj, was cited as saying the move was sanctioned to prevent a “flare-up”.
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“If this is done, it is so that there is no agitation and no flare up. It was kept in mind that our kanwar yatra should go smoothly,” Maharaj said according to the Express.
He added: “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.”
It is unclear who decided to cover the mosques and shrine with the sheets. PTI cited the maulana of one mosque and the shrine’s caretakers as saying they were not aware of official orders to cover the structures.
But Amar Ujala reported that a mosque management official said they put up the sheets after receiving official orders to this effect on Monday (July 21).
One mosque official told BBC Hindi the move had also affected hawkers working outside his mosque.
Hindu pilgrims travel to Haridwar and back by foot in the kanwar yatra, which started on July 22 this year and will end on August 2.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court extended its interim stay on the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand governments’ orders to eateries and food vendors along the yatra’s route in their states to display their owners’ and employees’ names.
The controversial orders were widely seen as an attempt to target the Muslim community.
Petitioners challenged the orders in the apex court saying it affected the country’s secular character and violated the right to livelihood. The court’s interim stay will be in effect until August 5.
