INDIA, July 26, 2022 (Zee News): As the Kanwar Yatra reaches its peak, police in parts of western Uttar Pradesh have donned the guise of Kanwariyas (pilgrims) to join the processions to rein in law and order, according to officials. Wearing saffron t-shirts with shorts or track pants, hundreds of police personnel in Muzaffarnagar have joined the Kanwariyas, the officials said. During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees of Lord Shiva, especially in north India, walk on foot to Haridwar, Gaumukh, etc., in Uttarakhand to fetch the water of Ganga River in the auspicious Hindu month of Shravan. They then offer the holy water to Lord Shiva back home. Security measures were stepped up in the district with thousands of police personnel on duty, even as drones were deployed for aerial monitoring and surveillance for law and order, a senior official said.
“Muzaffarnagar on the UP-Uttarakhand border is a key district for the annual pilgrimage of Shiva bhaktis as any pilgrim on the Yatra to Uttarakhand would have to necessarily cross through it. The district has around 31 miles of road stretches that form the Kanwar routes,” the official told PTI. After bringing Gangajal from Uttarakhand, the Kanwariyas reach Muzaffarnagar and then split ways to Meerut, Shamli, etc while the locals move to Shiv Chowk, among other prominent temples in Muzaffarnagar, the official said. “Security measures have been stepped up. Besides the normal deployment, around 400-500 police personnel in the clothing of Kanwariyas are taking part in the procession for monitoring law and order situation,” the official said, requesting anonymity. The official said the deployment of police in the guise of Bholes has been a routine practice for the past several years.
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