Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recently said that he instructed the police to use lathi charge to disperse the protestors who had blocked the road after an electrocution incident killed three people during a Muharram Tazia procession in Jaunpur.
Referring to the incident, Adityanath said, “A towering Tazia was made forcefully by ignoring the safety rules, which came in contact with a high tension wire and three people died. Then they blocked the road. When the police asked me what to do, I instructed them to take strict action. Drive them away with lathis. Laton ke bhoot baton se nahin mante (They understand the language of force and not words). Such people will have to understand that it is important to maintain social harmony.”
The UP CM also asserted he had to restrict the height of the tazias because otherwise people demanded the removal of tree branches, eaves of houses and overhead electrical wires to accommodate Muharram processions. He explained why he had restricted the heights of the tazias to 9ft.
“It would have been an injustice to those who pay electricity bills to remove the wires and disrupt power supply to a village or town,” he said.
“You (observers of Muharram) want to organise a procession without paying anything, without paying road tax. You want to break a house that someone built with hard labour. You want to cut the branches of a tree that took 40-50 years to grow. What right have you to do so?” he questioned.
The electrocution incident took place in Sadhanganj village of Jaunpur on July 7.
“Previously, every Muharram procession used to be an occasion for violence and arson. Sisters and daughters were unable to move on the roads. They (Opposition parties) used to remain silent those days.”
He made the remarks at the inauguration of a national seminar on the tribal icon Birsa Munda at Vasant Mahila Mahavidyalaya on the second day of his visit to Varanasi.
Also Read: Kanwar Yatris labelled as criminals, terrorists, claims CM Yogi Adityanth
At the same event, Yogi Adityanath lauded the Kanwar Yatra. He said that efforts are being made to defame kanwar pilgrims who are subjected to a media trial and termed terrorists and rioters. This, he asserted, stems from mentality that wants to insult India's heritage.
Speaking in support of the Shiva devotees at the seminar, the chief minister said those who seek to defame the kanwar 'yatris' are the same people who tried to separate the tribal community from India.
"They conspired at every level to make them fight against India. This is the same community that always insults the faith of India and these are the same people who today want to create a situation of caste conflict by creating fake accounts on social media platforms," Adityanath said.
The chief minister said the everyone from society, from the working classes to the upper classes, is associated with the yatra.
"There is a wonderful confluence of unity. No discrimination. There is no distinction of caste, no distinction of region, no distinction of class, no difference of opinion, no difference of sect, they go chanting 'Har Har Bam Bam'. They walk 300-400 kilometres, then take water from there, put the kanwar on their shoulders and walk back in the same way with the same devotion," Adityanath said.
Sounding a note of caution, he said, “But there is a media trial, Kanwar Yatris are defamed. A lot is written about them, they have the audacity to even call them (Kanwar pilgrims) criminals and terrorists. This is the mentality to insult the heritage of India in every way.”
The Kanwar Yatra began on July 11 with the commencement of the Hindu holy month of Sawan.
(With inputs from agencies)
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