Kanwarias at Mohan Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
To maintain law and order, Uttarakhand’s principal secretary has written to home secretaries in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, asking them to conduct checking of all kanwarias and their vehicles, and remove tridents, sticks, baseball bats and hockey sticks from their possession.
The letter was written by Uttarakhand’s principal secretary (home) Anand Vardhan on July 9, following several meetings conducted by Delhi Police with police teams from other states.
Special CP (law and order of southern range) R P Upadhyay said they conducted several inter-state coordination meetings after receiving a letter from Vardhan. “We have directed subordinates to conduct checking to avoid any untoward incident,” he said.
In his letter, Vardhan said last year the footfall was around 3.7 crore, and it is only expected to increase this year. The kanwar yatra started on July 28 and ends on August 10. “Most of the time, kanwarias carry tridents, baseball bats, hockey sticks and they don’t hesitate to use these weapons whenever they have an argument or fight with anyone. They also fight with shopkeepers and local public, which becomes a major law and order issue,” the letter states.
He also claimed in the letter that some of them consume drugs, which is another challenge for law and order enforcement officers. “Kanwarias initially came walking, but later some of their groups came in tractors, trolley, trucks, etc to Haridwar. It was observed that they start competing while returning home, driving rashly and causing road accidents. Their vehicles are also equipped with big music system, which increases the possibility of road accidents,” it states. He said the Uttarakhand police always removes these weapons and music systems.
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The letter also states that there is scope for mismanagement since they usually travel in large numbers.
In his letter, he asked all home secretaries to direct their state police to frisk and remove such items. “We should also ensure kanwarias don’t get involved in illegal activities,” the letter states.
The letter was first sent to the principal secretary (home) Manoj Kumar Parida before being sent to the Delhi Police.