Varanasi, 18 July

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said 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 a mentality that wants to insult India's heritage.

Speaking in support of Shiva devotees at a seminar on tribal icon Birsa Munda, he 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 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 word of caution, he said, "But, there is a media trial, they are defamed. A lot is written about them, they have the audacity to even call them (Kanwar pilgrims) rioters and terrorists. This is the mentality to insult the heritage of India in every way."

Adityanath also said that fake social media accounts were being run to spark caste tensions and alleged that those "always insulting the faith of India" were behind it.

"These are the same people who tried to separate the tribal community from India and worked to provoke them, conspiring at every level to make them fight against India. They are ones that always insult the faith of India, and they are the same people who today want to create caste conflict by creating fake accounts on social media platforms," he said.

Recalling a specific incident, Adityanath said, "A few years ago there was a case of arson. I had said then that such an act didn't seem to be that of a particular community," he said, recalling that after ordering cops to immediately control the situation, he directed that the "footage of the arson be examined."

He said subsequent investigations established that a person involved in the arson was wearing a saffron scarf but shouting 'Ya Allah'.

"If we are to safeguard national unity, then such deceptive individuals must be exposed and excluded from the society," he said.

He also said, "Muharram was organised a month before Saavan. We made a rule and fixed a height for the Tazia because otherwise it would need either branches of trees to be cut or someone's balcony to be removed or high-tension wires to be shifted."

"Now for any event, if we were to remove high-tension wires, it would mean disrupting the power supply for a large section of the village or the city. This would be an injustice to those paying electricity bills," he said.

He then cited an incident from Jaunpur, where a towering Tazia constructed in violation of safety norms came into contact with a high-tension wire, claiming three lives.

"Following this, an attempt was made to block roads and create unrest. I instructed the police to take strict action. Those disrupting social harmony must understand that peace and order are paramount," Adityanath said, adding there weren't any protests on social media either.

"In UP we also made arrangements to stop protesting with weapons during Muharram, as previously these processions would lead to riots, arson, and vandalism. Sisters and daughters could not come out on the streets," he said.