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.
“Halki si touch ho gayi (it was just a slight touch),” Kumar told The Wire after being discharged from a hospital. The kanwariya his vehicle touched accused him of desecrating his kanwar, the pole set carried by kanwariyas with containers attached to each end. The dangling containers are used by the kanwariyas to carry water from the Ganga during their annual yatra.
An injured Kumar said his bike accidentally touched a kanwariya who was walking behind him. “I pleaded to them and said that I touched him by mistake and I was sorry. I didn’t do it intentionally. But they did not listen to anything I had to say,” said Kumar. He managed to escape from the scene but the kanwariyas damaged his vehicle. A video of the incident was widely shared on social media. The video showed the agitated kanwariyas surrounding the bike and violently hitting it with sticks and anything they could grab hold of. Some were also heard shouting, “Bolo Shankar bhagwan ki jai.” A couple of policemen stood as bystanders as the kanwariyas attacked the vehicle.
In his police complaint, Kumar named seven kanwariyas whose names he figured out by observing their conversation. “”They appeared to be from Haryana from their manner of their speaking,” said Kumar in his complaint. An FIR was lodged against seven kanwariyas for attempt to murder, rioting, rioting with deadly weapon and other charges. They were identified as Sachin, Vinod, Bindar, Sukhwinder, Jagdeep, Buta and Karansingh.
Abhimanyu Manglik, Superintendent of Police, City, Saharanpur, said the kanwariyas were travelling from Haridwar to Haryana. The officer said that the kanwariyas claimed that Kumar’s bike damaged the kawad carried by one of them. Manglik said that police and locals tried to pacify the angry kanwariyas and arranged for fresh Ganga jal for them to calm the situation. The miscreants have been identified, he further said, adding that legal action would be taken after registration of the FIR.
Also read: Kanwariya Mob Vandalises Car, Beats Muslim Driver Allegedly Over Fake Story of Desecrated Kanwar
Haridwar
Violent scenes were also recorded in Haridwar, where a mob of kanwariyas thrashed an e-rickshaw driver Sanjay Kumar and vandalized his vehicle on the alleged pretext that he desecrated the kawad carried by one of them. A video of the incident showed the kanwariyas, most of them young men and boys, on Tuesday ferociously thrashing at a toppled e-rickshaw with thick wooden blocks and sticks. More than half-a-dozen kanwariyas are seen attacking the vehicle while scores of others are looking on. The police, however, dismissed the story claimed by the kanwariyas about their kawad being spoiled.
Senior Superintendent of Police Parmendra Dobhal said, “No kanwar was desecrated nor did any such incident take place.”
“Despite that the bhole (kanwariya) gathered others and assaulted the driver and also vandalised his e-rickshaw,” added Dobhal.
An FIR was lodged in the case at Manglaur police station and the accused were being identified, he said. Strict action would be taken, he added.
Muzaffarnagar
On Wednesday, a group of kanwariyas attacked the staff of a petrol pump in Mansoorpur area of Muzaffarnagar after the staff objected to them throwing leftover mango seeds in the premises. This led to an altercation which escalated into “maar peet” or assault, said deputy superintendent of police Ramashish Yadav. When the petrol pump staff ran towards a cabin to save himself, the kanwariyas chased after him, said the officer.
Videos of the incident showed several kanwariyas, carrying sticks, damaging parts of the cabin as they violently attacked the premises. The officer, however, said that a window pane was damaged. The petrol pump staff was injured and taken to a hospital. More details of the case are awaited.
In another incident in Muzaffarnagar on Wednesday, a group of kanwariyas brutally assaulted a mentally-challenged man near Meenakshi chowk area under Civil Lines police station. The kanwariyas could be seen kicking and hitting him mercilessly with lathis.
Satyanarayan Prajapat, the superintendent of police, Muzaffarnagar city, said the victim did not receive any serious injuries but was kept under observation after receiving treatment.
Legal action will be taken after an application is received, he said.
According to Prajapat, the incident took place after the victim waved a stick in the air at one of the kanwariyas who had gathered at the Kawad Shivir or camp arranged for them. In retaliation, the kanwariya thrashed the man who tried to escape. But the other kanwariyas chased him and thrashed him further. He was rescued by the police, said Prajapat, who added that the other kanwariyas were pacified and requested to continue with their yatra.
As The Wire reported earlier, a group of Kanwariyas in Muzaffarnagar vandalised a car and thrashed its driver, a Muslim identified as Aquib, on the pretext of a fake story that his car had brushed against the ‘kanwar’ carried by one them during their yatra on July 21. The police found that the kanwariyas had indulged in violence without any provocation.
While we have listed above the major incidents of violence reported during the kanwar yatra this year, several smaller incidents have also been reported and gone unnoticed over the last week.
In Muzaffarnagar’s civil lines, an e-rickshaw driver was last week thrashed by kanwariyas after his vehicle brushed against the kanwad of one of the kanwariyas near an underpass. A similar incident was reported in Khatauli, Muzaffarnagar where an e-rickshaw driver was beaten up for the same reason. Last Friday, a group of kanwariyas also vandalised a dhaba in Muzaffarnagar after they found that the food served to them contained onion and garlic.
In Haridwar, kanwariyas attacked a truck and thrashed its driver over allegations that the vehicle had desecrated their kanwar.