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‘Kanwar sanghs have cancelled yatra’: Uttar Pradesh govt
UP’s additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal said this in a short statement issued on Saturday evening.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday announced that the Kanwar sanghs (associations of pilgrims) have cancelled this year’s Kanwar Yatra on the appeal of the state government. The state government’s additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal said this in a short statement issued on Saturday evening. The yatra was scheduled to start on July 25.
“The Kanwar Yatra has been cancelled by the Kanwar sanghs on the appeal of the Uttar Pradesh government,” Sehgal said.
The Uttar Pradesh government spoke to Kanwar sanghs in various districts since the Supreme Court on Friday nudged it to reconsider the state’s decision to hold the yatra despite Covid-19 concerns. The top court asked the state government to inform it by July 19 whether it would reconsider its decision to hold a “symbolic” Kanwar Yatra.
The annual pilgrimage held in the Hindu holy month of Shravan involves Lord Shiva devotees generally walking barefoot with pitchers of holy water from the Ganga or other rivers hung on Kanwars (bamboo or wooden slings) and then offering the water to the deity at Shiva temples.
Sehgal said that last year, too, the Kanwar sanghs had cancelled the yatra.
On Tuesday, the Uttarakhand government cancelled this year’s Yatra but the UP government said the Yatra was allowed in Uttar Pradesh with Covid safety protocols. Following this, the Supreme Court took cognizance of the issue and, on Friday, asked the UP government to reconsider its decision to allow the Kanwar Yatra in the state with a limited number of pilgrims. The apex court asked the government to consider a complete ban on the physical movement of kanwariyas in the state.
