On Wednesday, July 20, dozens of Hindu pilgrims gearing up for the Kanwar yatra staged a demonstration in Delhi. The demonstration was called soon after they discovered a piece of meat thrown at one of the Kanwars, desecrating the holy Ganga water and rendering it soiled.

The Kanwariyas protesting this hateful act slammed the AAP government during their hours-long protest. It must be highlighted that the Kanwariya camp where the meat was found is located near the Seelampur area, which is a Muslim-dominated neighborhood.

According to the reports, these Kanwariyas had reached Delhi from Alwar, Rajasthan. They were on a 14-day Kanwar Yatra in which they fetched water from the holy Ganga at Haridwar for an Alwar-based temple dedicated to Bhagwan Shiva. The Kanwariya had been walking continuously for seven days before reaching Seelampur on July 19.

They had set up their camp near the Seelampur Metro station parking and were ready to head back to Alwar. However, their peaceful holy yatra was disrupted after the Kanwariyas discovered that some unidentified miscreants had flung a piece of meat at a Kanwar kept outside the camp.

This led to immense disappointment among the Kanwariyas, whose hard work of walking to the Holy Ganga and fetching water for Bhagwan Shiv had gone in vain. They staged a demonstration and raised slogans against the government and Police authorities of the national capital. They also alleged that the miscreants had deliberately thrown the meat at the yatra camp to hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus. As the protest of the Kawariyas escalated, the Delhi traffic was halted for an hour.

 “We were passing through the Seelampur area with Kanwar when a fellow Kanwariya changed the Kanwar from one shoulder to the other, and suddenly the piece of meat stuck in the decoration of his Kanwar fell on the road. Although he cannot say with certainty who threw it and when, before we entered the Muslim-majority area of Seelampur, all was well, and people welcomed us. But we did not see the same in Delhi”, said one Kawariya while speaking to OpIndia.

Officials of the Delhi police also reached the protest site and tried to placate the Kawariyas. The Police officials have also assured them that they will carry out a thorough investigation into the matter. They claimed they scanned the CCTV footage to assess how the meat reached the camp.

Attacks and targeting of Hindu festivals have become a norm, and the Kanwar yatra is no different. Delhi Police have assured the Kawariya’s that they will arrest the guilty. As one of the Kanwar was made impure due to meat thrown at it, Delhi Police arranged a vehicle to transport the Kanwar yatris to Haridwar so that they could again get the holy water required for Bhagwan Shiv. 

Once they fetch the holy water from Ganga, they are to be brought to Seelampur with the help of the Police. They will then continue with the rest of their yatra by foot to Alwar, which may take up to six days.