let’s pause, reflect and recalibrate

Scene 1: Place: Modinagar, district: Ghaziabad

The Kanwar procession halted, with hundreds of devotees clapping and surrounding a woman and her physically challenged husband chanting “Har Har Mahadev”. The reason? This villager, Asha Devi, was undertaking Kanwar pilgrimage carrying her husband on her back. She believed it would not only cure him of his disability but also result in his employment.

Scene 2: Place: Lachhiwala in Dehradun. A large contingent of Kanwariyas is resting. Powerful boom speakers are playing devotional songs inspired by Bollywood music. Suddenly a large elephant charges towards them. Utter pandemonium ensues. After flipping a tractor trolley the elephant drops its aggressive stance and retreats towards the jungle. Wildlife experts say high decibel sound disturbs the sleep pattern of the wild animals making them irritable and aggressive.

Scene 3: Place: Mirzapur. A video of young Kanwariyas, in which they are roughing up a soldier, goes viral. The soldier in uniform isn’t giving in. Every time he falls he gets up to take on his attackers. The video evokes the memories of the ‘disturbed areas’ of Kashmir and the North Eastern region.

Tell me which one would you like to witness in your neighbourhood. I guess none!

I have nothing against the Kanwar processions. I am a devout Hindu–in birth and in deeds. I have endured long queues leading to the temple in freezing cold, pouring rain and oppressive heat. I have walked for miles carrying my young children in arms so they could take a dip at “Triveni” (the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati). Even today I feel rejuvenated and complete after undertaking the panch kedar journey performing the rudrabhishek. I have no doubt that 99% of the people participating in such a pilgrimage are inspired by deep devotion to the divine.

Unfortunately, miscreants and anti-social elements are able to muscle their way into such journeys of faith, harassing passing vehicles with rods and aggressive body language showing scant regard towards women and children sitting inside them. They feel no remorse in attacking places of worship of other religions.

They aren’t alone in abusing faith, traders and politicians alike treat it like a profitable venture.

The state of Uttar Pradesh will go for village pradhan elections this year. The probables have gone out of their way to not only sponsor a large number of young men to undertake Kanwar pilgrimage but also organized langars (community lunches) along the way.

It has resulted in record-breaking crowds at Haridwar. The Uttarakhand government says this year 45 million people gathered to procure Ganga water. Last year, the numbers were at 41 million. It’s okay to support Kanwariyas but creating inconvenience for others is where it gets tricky.

The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, who has gone the extra mile to make Kanwar pilgrimage more comfortable and safe, is aware of the deterioration creeping into the tradition. He warned miscreants hiding behind the Kanwars, insisting that everyone’s CCTV footage was available. He said those who are trying to malign the Kanwar yatra will be exposed and posters with their faces pasted everywhere.

We should remember that apart from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, Kanwar yatras are organized in other parts of the country. But these places don’t witness such hooliganism. Not only Kanwars, many religious processions are organized throughout the country on different occasions round the year. Millions attend them but rarely do we witness such chaos and mess.

I am reminded of France where once I got a chance to witness a religious procession. I saw thousands of people moving quietly in single files. It set a beautiful example that religion and spiritual peace are complimentary. There’s no place for noise and nuisance. At that time I thought the oldest religion in the world should also reflect maximum discipline. But why is it lacking?

Hinduism and thousands of years of our Hindustaniat (Our Indian identity) is testimony to the fact that we always deal with our weaknesses and emerge stronger and better.

I have firm belief we’ll pause, reflect, and recalibrate our approach for restoring the pristine glory of the pilgrimage for present and future generations.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.