SOURCE :- SIASAT NEWS
Lucknow: With Kanwar Yatra in full swing and multiple camps across Northern India fully set up, the streets of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Delhi are ready to be filled with devotees dressed in saffron. However, amid the ongoing yatra, multiple incidents of violence and disruption were reported, including an attack by a group of Kanwariyas on a school van carrying children.
A van carrying primary school students was reportedly attacked in Lucknow by a group of men who were part of the Kanwar Yatra. The incident took place on Monday, August 3, in the Chowk Police Station jurisdiction, with eyewitnesses claiming that most of the students inside the van were from the Muslim community.
Lucknow police were quick to release a statement saying necessary legal action is underway. “Upon receiving the information, the Chowk police station immediately arrived at the scene,” the statement read. “No children were reported injured in the incident. Based on CCTV footage and other evidence, the individuals involved have been identified and necessary legal action is being taken as per the law.”
A video of the incident has since gone viral, showing visibly shaken students inside the van, with shattered windows.
Locals later protested the attack on the van, with some saying, “We are also Hindus, but that does not mean using the Hindu religion to trouble others.”
“They deliberately did it. We heard them shouting abuses as they passed the van,” said another onlooker.
The Kanwar Yatra is an annual pilgrimage to religious sites in Haridwar, Gaumukh, Gangotri, Sultanganj, and Bhagalpur to fetch holy water from the Ganga River. The 2026 yatra runs from July 30 to August 11.
Kanwariyas vandalise devotee’s car after minor collision
A video from August 1 showed a group of devotees in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar striking a car with sticks, damaging the vehicle and beating its occupant. According to local reports, the car had slightly grazed the carriages of Kanwariyas. Enraged, the kanwariyas reportedly chased the car and assaulted the car’s occupant, identified as Sonu, in police presence.
Footage from the scene shows police officers attempting to pull the occupant away from the crowd. As Sonu falls to the ground, attackers surround him and deliver kicks, continuing the assault. Meanwhile, a youth is seen repeatedly jumping on the car’s roof, denting it, while others hit the car windows, shattering them.
Sonu, from Haryana, was also a devotee on his way to collect a Kanwar and had stopped at Haridwar to holy water.
Police have since registered a case and arrested Raja, who had climbed onto the car’s roof.
In Meerut, cops attacked; police deny the incident
Sonu was reportedly assaulted again upon reaching Meerut, having collected the holy water from Haridwar.
A video released late on Monday showed a group of Kanwariyas allegedly dragging two policemen out of a police jeep and beating them, with footage showing the cops in torn clothes.
Meerut Police refuted the claims, with Senior Superintendent Avinash Pandey clarifying that the viral video alleging police officers being beaten up is completely false.
According to Pandey, a group of kanwariyas were seated in their reserved lane when Sonu’s bike collided with their carriages, resulting in a scuffle and a heated argument.
Authorities were quickly alerted and arrived at the scene, said Pandey. “When Sonu and his companion were being taken away in the police jeep, they were beaten up by the kanwariyas.”
He reiterated that the video “does not contain the police, but Sonu and his companion.” Pandey added that a head constable of Daurala police station was hit on his hand, shoulder and face while transferring Sonu and his friend.
The SSP informed that a first information report (FIR) has been registered regarding the assault and Sonu’s bike has also been seized. “An investigation is ongoing,” Pandey said.
Meanwhile, a separate statement from the Meerut Police on “X” said that both parties were taken to the police station for medical examination and were released after counselling. “No written complaint was filed by either party. Currently, the law and order situation at the spot is completely normal,” the police statement read.
Women Hindutva activists reach Taj Mahal carrying kanwar, demand jalabhishek ritual
Carrying kanwars, covered in saffron clothes and turbans, eleven women from the All India Hindu Mahasabha arrived at the Taj Mahal claiming it is the Tejo Mahalaya lord Shiva Temple.
The women activists were seen asking for permission to perform Jalabhishek at the site, resulting in a standoff with the police officers. Jalabhishek is the sacred Hindu ritual of pouring water, Gangajal, or other sanctified liquids over a Shivling while chanting “Om Namah Shivaya.”
SOURCE : SIASAT
