- Tuesday, April 30, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Supreme Court of India on Wednesday (14) took cognisance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to allow ‘Kanwar Yatra’ in the state in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A two-judge bench headed by Justice R F Nariman issued a notice to the Yogi Adityanath government and posted the matter for hearing on Friday (16). A notice has also been issued to the Centre and also UP’s northern neighbour Uttarakhand, which also has a BJP government. Uttarakhand cancelled the yatra (procession) hours later with its new chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami saying “even the gods will not want people to die”.
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The government of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday (13) said the yatra could commence from July 25 with a “minimum number of people”, and with “strict implementation of COVID-19 protocol”. Negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) tests could be made compulsory, if required, a state official was quoted by news agency PTI.
Millions of devotees assemble for ‘Kanwar Yatra’
Every year, an estimated 30 million Kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva) from various northern states gather to collect water from the Ganga river at Haridwar in Uttarakhand to offer to Shiva temples in their areas. The fortnight-long yatra witnesses devotees from Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.
The apex court, which took up the matter suo motu, said citizens were “perplexed” by the yatra being permitted at a time when prime minister Narendra Modi and medical experts have warned against large gatherings and asked people to follow social distancing and other Covid protocols.
“We read something disturbing in The Indian Express today… that Uttar Pradesh has chosen to continue with the Kanwar Yatra while Uttarakhand, with hindsight of experience, has said there will be no yatra,” the bench said. Justice BR Gavai is the other judge.
“We wish to know the stand of the respective governments. The citizens of India are completely perplexed. They do not know what is going on. And all this as the PM, when asked about the third wave of Covid, said we cannot compromise even one bit,” the top court added.
“We are issuing notice to the Centre, UP and Uttarakhand… and because the yatra is to leave from July 25, we want them to file early responses and the matter will be heard on Friday.”
Last year, the yatra was scrapped because of the pandemic and lockdown.
In Uttarakhand, the holding of the Maha Kumbh Mela earlier this year came under intense criticism with the experts saying that the event proved to be a super spreader by contributing to a spike in the Covid-19 cases in May. The outrage led to an appeal by prime minister Modi mid-way through the (curtailed) month-long festival. Modi asked the mela “should now only be symbolic amid the coronavirus crisis”.
On Tuesday, Modi issued a strong warning to people asking them to follow the Covid protocols to ward off or at least minimise a potential third wave.
