E-Paper
State govt to soon take a call on demand for meat, liquor ban near Sangam: Dy CM Maurya
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday said that a decision on the demand of saints and seers for imposing ban on sale, cooking and consumption of non-vegetarian items as well as liquor in and around Sangam area would soon be taken by the state government
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday said that a decision on the demand of saints and seers for imposing ban on sale, cooking and consumption of non-vegetarian items as well as liquor in and around Sangam area would soon be taken by the state government.
He was in the city to chair a review meeting on preparations for the Mahakumbh-2025.
Talking to media persons, the deputy CM said that the demand of the saints would be duly considered by the state government and a call on it would be taken soon.
While answering a question related to survey of madrasas, Maurya also said that neither madrasas were being defamed nor anyone associated with it was being harassed in the name of survey. The survey was being done only to address the problems of madrasas, he added.
Upset over the recent incident of consumption of non-vegetarian food by some youths on a boat on the Ganga in the vicinity of Sangam in Prayagraj, many saints and their organisations, including the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad (ABAP)—the top decision-making body of country’s Hindu monastic orders— had demanded such a ban.
Seers of ABAP even plan to meet chief minister Yogi Adityanath and urge him to ensure complete stop on sale, cooking and consumption of non-vegetarian items not just within radius of 5km of Sangam but also at similar sites across the state.
They are demanding to frame a law to ban sale, cooking and consumption of non-vegetarian food items on and near the holy rivers located near revered sites of pilgrimage and plan to hand over this proposal to the chief minister through a delegation with a request for action on priority basis.
On September 4, Prayagraj Vidvat Parishad—another organisation having a number of seers as its members— had also held a meeting and demanded ban on non-vegetarian food within a radius of five km of Sangam. The heads of temples, monasteries and religious places of Prayagraj while participating in the meeting chaired by the body’s president Swami Hari Chaitanya Brahmachari had said that Prayagraj was hailed as “the king of all pilgrim sites” and use of non-vegetarian food in all forms should be banned within 5km radius from Sangam.
The leaders of Vishva Hindu Parishad (Kashi Prant) too have written to the UP CM in May urging him to impose a ban on not just sale and consumption of meat and liquor but also eggs and fish in 5km radius of Sangam in Prayagraj—a demand that they have reiterated following the recent incident at Sangam.
