A spate of violence has marked the Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh, with incidents of assault flaring up along the route, and no arrests in most cases. 

In the latest incident, a Muslim family faced the ire of angry kanwariyas on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway as their car was stopped and vandalised for allegedly “breaking a kanwar”. The kanwar is a bamboo pole carried by the kanwariyas or devotees with two containers filled with holy water dangling from the opposite ends. In the July 26 incident, the family fled to safety while their car was vandalised.       

A day earlier, a group of kanwariyas assaulted a police personnel on duty with sticks and snatched his mobile phone as he stopped a DJ with the kanwariyas from playing music near a toll plaza in Haridwar. Haridwar sub-inspector Sudhanshu Kishore was controlling the traffic near the toll plaza when the incident took place. An FIR was subsequently lodged.  

Newslaundry traced similar incidents of violence that escalated significantly, resulting in severe injuries to individuals.

Case 1: In Muzaffarnagar, car vandalised, owner and cop attacked 

On July 21, a mob of kanwariyas reportedly vandalised a car near a road-side restaurant and “severely assaulted” its owner on the Haridwar-Meerut Highway in Muzaffarnagar for “breaking a kanwar”. 

Aaqib, the owner of the car and resident of Dehradun, suffered severe injuries on his head and back. He told Newslaundry, “I didn’t touch anyone, and nor did I break any kanwar.” 

The incident took place around 8 am after Aaqib reached Laxmi Food Plaza Hotel on his way to Meerut from Dehradun to drop off his brother-in-law. “I left home at 4 am and reached Chaapaar at around 8 am. The then kanwariyas accused me of breaking their kanwar. I was beaten mercilessly.”

A viral video of the incident showed a group of kanwariyas climb atop the white-coloured car and vandalise it with sticks and bricks, amid chants of “Bol Bam” or “Say Shiv”. A few others also threw chairs outside the dhaba. It also showed kanwariyas beating up Aaqib and throwing a chair at the police who came to rescue him.

Pradeep, the restaurant owner told Newslaundry that 25-30 kanwariyas who were sitting at the eatery blocked the highway and stopped a car after they received “a call from their friend”. “They suddenly vandalised this car and started beating the driver. The driver then came to my hotel for help but before we could do anything, the group of kanwariyas scolded us and asked us to stay away. The police came and we were saved. Otherwise, anything could have happened to us. They even threw chairs at the police.”

‘kanwariyas blocked the highway, atmosphere of chaos’

Following the incident, sub-inspectors Pawan Kumar, Amit Ojha, Vinay Kumar and Ramprakash Pauniya reached the spot. A day later, the police registered an FIR against unidentified persons at the Chhapar Police Station.  

The FIR mentioned sections 115 (2), 126 (2), 270, 285, 190, 191 (2), 324 (5) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act for wrongful restraint, threat of injury to public servant, giving false evidence, and voluntarily causing hurt, among other charges. 

It said that “around 10-15 kanwariyas damaged a car” and “blocked the highway from Haridwar to Meerut with their 2-3 motorcycles. This stopped the movement of passengers. Due to the closure of the road, ambulances, women, children, elderly and the sick who were going to Delhi or Meerut for treatment got stuck. After a long wait, when the jam did not clear, there was an atmosphere of chaos.”

The FIR also quoted kanwariyas as saying that “their companion’s kanwar was broken by the vehicle about two kilometres away” from the restaurant. But it further said that the accusation was “not proven” in the police interrogation.

Chaapaar SHO Sukh Pal told Newslaundry that the police are investigating the matter and efforts are being made to identify the people. “Some people have been identified but no one has been arrested yet.”

Pal added that all those involved in the violence were kanwariyas.

Case 2: Ruckus at a petrol station for ‘smoking cigarette’ 

A day later, Muzaffarnagar witnessed another incidence of violence involving kanwariyas. As a kanwariya was allegedly stopped from smoking a cigarette at a petrol pump, he got angry, and subsequently, a mob of kanwariyas allegedly “created a ruckus”.     

Employees at the Reliance petrol pump told Newslaundry that an altercation followed after a staff member named Manoj Kumar, alias Sheru, stopped a man from smoking. The kanwariyas then entered the office of the petrol pump, vandalised it, and assaulted the employees.  

Manoj suffered severe injuries and got stitches on his head. He is undergoing treatment at Muzaffarnagar Medical College in Begrajpur.

On the complaint of the pump owner Ashutosh Sharma, the police lodged an FIR under Sections 191(1), 191(2), 115 (2) and 124 (2) of the IPC. The FIR said that “about 40-50 unidentified kanwariyas attacked the petrol pump with sticks. The employee present here, had forbidden the kanwariyas from smoking cigarettes. Over this, the kanwariyas attacked him.”

Sharma told Newslaundry, “A kanwariya was smoking sulpha-filled cigarettes. One of our employees asked him to stop, saying that it is a flammable substance and cannot be lit at the pump. And they can go away and smoke it. The kanwariya got angry at this and beat up our employee. When the employees protested against this, more of his friends came. Then hundreds of kanwariyas started creating a ruckus.” He added that the kanwariyas were “so many” in number that it was “difficult to control them”.

Mansoorpur SHO Ashutosh Kumar told Newslaundry that “the police are taking action on the basis of the CCTV footage. Some of the accused have been identified. They are from Mandoli village in Delhi. A case has been registered. But no one has been arrested yet.”

Case 3: ‘Kanwar broke’ in accident, two assaulted, severely injured 

In Saharanpur, violence erupted along the kanwar yatra route when a kanwar broke as two people on a bike fell onto the road after colliding with a car around 9:30 pm on July 23.  

The kanwariyas attacked the bike rider and his pillion – Aman Kumar, 27, and his brother-in-law  Monu, 30 – accusing the two locals of “defiling” the kanwar. They were allegedly brutally attacked by a group of men and their new motorcycle was also damaged. 

Aman broke his arm and suffered serious head injuries in the attack, while Monu also suffered severe injuries on his head, chest, shoulder and waist. Both have been discharged from the hospital. Aman, who works at a local toy shop, told Newslaundry he has received 18 stitches on his head, and Monu has got 14 stitches on his head. “I was beaten badly.”

They were both on their way to Monu’s residence when the incident took place. A video of the incident being widely circulated on social media showed a group of kanwariyas vandalising a motorcycle with sticks while shouting ‘Shankar bhagwan ki jai’.

The video also showed two policemen near the spot. On the police inaction, Aman said “if they did not save us then, what would they do now? After all, who listens to us poor people? Now the police are just doing the formality.”

Monu alleged that the kanwariyas were “intoxicated”. He told Newslaundry that “there was a group of about 12 to 15 men. Aman was stuck under the bike and kanwariyas started abusing and beating me. Those people were intoxicated. They first beat me with sticks and kept hitting me on the head with a kada, or mental ring worn on the wrist, till there was an open wound. I somehow saved my life and ran away. Then they caught Aman.”

The Saharanpur police lodged an FIR against seven kanwariyas, Sachin, Vinod, Vinder, Sukhvinder, Jagdeep, Bhuta, and Karn Singh, at the Gagal Hedi police station. The residents of Yamunanagar in Haryana have been booked under Sections 191 (2), 191 (3), 115 (2), 324 (4) and 109 of the Indian Penal Code.

Gagal Hedi SHO Kuldeep Tomar told Newslaundry that the investigation is going on and no accused has been arrested yet. Meanwhile, Saharanpur superintendent of police Abhimanyu Manglik said the kanwariyas were going to Haryana from Haridwar. “Police and local people pacified the angry kanwariyas and sent them away after arranging for ganga jal.”

The SP said that the youths who created the ruckus have been identified and “further action is being taken”.

Case 4: A minor road accident led to kanwariya flare up in Haridwar 

In a similar incident in Mangalore of Haridwar on the same day, July 23, a group of kanwariyas assaulted e-rickshaw driver Sanjay Kumar and damaged his vehicle for “breaking a kanwar”.   

The incident took place around 3 pm when Kumar was on his way to Libberheri from Mangalore and a kanwariya “suddenly came in front of his vehicle”, resulting in collision between the two. The driver told Newslaundry that “10-12 kanwariyas beat me up” and vandalised the vehicle. A video of this incident was being circulated on social media.

Haridwar SSP Pramod Singh Dobhal told Newslaundry that “no kanwar broke” in the minor accident and yet the kanwariyas assaulted the driver. “The e-rickshaw collided with a bhola (kanwariya) near Libberhedi intersection but no kanwar broke. Despite this, the kanwariyas beat up the e-rickshaw driver and also vandalised his e-rickshaw. The accused are being identified.”

The Haridwar police lodged a case against unidentified persons under sections 115(2), 191(2), 324(5), 351(2) and 352 of the IPC at the Mangalore Police Station. 

The Uttar Pradesh government has deployed 213 companies of the PAC, seven of the CRPF,  three companies of the SDRF, and the ATS commandos to ensure peaceful completion of the kanwar yatra. 

UP DGP Prashant Kumar told Newslaundry that the number of kanwar pilgrims are “very high in Varanasi, Meerut, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur, and Shamli, in view of which 13 SPs, 33 DSPs, 75 inspectors, 244 sub-inspectors, 1,250 constables have been deployed on duty on this route. Along with this, 1,056 hotspots have been identified on the kanwar route and 1,448 quick response teams have also been formed”.

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