Duped, converted: Religious conversion racket busted in Agra
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Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Haridwar stampede: 8 dead, 30 injured in stampede at Mansa Devi temple
At least eight people, including a 12-year-old boy, were killed and 30 others injured in a stampede on a narrow stairway leading to a temple in Haridwar on Sunday morning, officials aware of the matter said. Footwear lay scattered at the spot following a stampede at the Mansa Devi temple, in Haridwar on Sunday. 8 people died and other 30 were left injured. (ANI Video Grab) According to officials, the incident took place at around 9am after a rumour spread that a high-voltage live wire had fallen on the passage leading to the Mansa Devi temple, one of Uttarakhand's busiest pilgrimage sites, triggering panic among a large crowd of devotees. 'Six people have been confirmed dead. According to eyewitnesses, someone spread a rumour that a live wire had fallen on the path to the temple, which triggered panic among the devotees,' Haridwar district magistrate Mayur Dixit said earlier in the day. Officials later in the day said that two more people died. Also Read | 'Peeche jao': Harrowing Haridwar stampede video captures chaos; death toll mounts to 8 Thirteen of the injured were referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, state disaster management secretary Vinod Kumar Suman said. The deceased were identified as UP residents Arush (12), Vishal (19), Ram Bharose (65), Vicky Saini(18), Vakil Shanti Devi; Shakal Dev (18) from Bihar; Vipin Saini (18), a resident of Uttarakhand. The full names and ages of some of the victims were not immediately available. Video clips from the stampede spot showed a large crowd pressed against each other in the choked 1.5 km stretch leading to the temple, which is located atop the Shivalik Hills at the height of 500 feet. Witnesses said there was hardly any room to move on the path, and people started pushing against one another after the rumour of a high-voltage wire falling on the passage spread. 'There is very little space on this used both for going up to the temple and coming down. There was a lot of pushing and shoving. No electric current was involved. It was just a rumour. People started jumping over each other, and some even leapt off to the other side of the wall,' Bunty (who goes by one name), an eyewitness, quickly spread among the devotees, leading to chaos and confusion, witnesses recounted. 'I somehow managed to survive. Five of our family members got separated. We've found three, but we're still searching for the other two,' Santosh Kumar, a resident of Bihar, said. Dixit said several electric wires were found broken at the site, indicating that some people may have attempted to climb up using them for support. The Mansa Devi Temple is a revered Hindu shrine dedicated to Goddess Mansa. It is situated around 3km from Har-Ki-Pauri and can be reached either by trekking the uphill path or through a ropeway. Local residents said that there was a surge in the crowd on account of it being a weekend. 'Mansa Devi is the biggest centre of attraction for devotees in Haridwar after Har Ki Pauri. Thousands of devotees come here every day. The crowd swells during the month of Sawan as a rule. Being a Sunday, the possibility of a larger crowd was very much there,' said Ajay Jaiswal, a local resident. Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a magisterial probe has been ordered in the incident. 'We have ordered a magisterial probe into the incident, and those responsible for spreading the rumour will face strict action,' Dhami said. He announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 each for the injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives in the stampede. 'Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is assisting those affected,' he said in a post on X. Uttarakhand Congress slammed the state government over the incident, terming it as an 'administrative failure' and seeking a judicial inquiry. ' 'This incident is not only a human tragedy but also stark evidence of administrative failure. The administration had made no concrete plans to handle the crowd,' said state Congress president Karan Mahara. The BJP rejected the charge and urged the Opposition to not make baseless accusations. 'The incident is under investigation, and strict action will be taken against those found responsible. Making political accusations without verified facts is not appropriate,' 'BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Bhatt said.
Scroll.in
2 hours ago
- Scroll.in
The Kanwar Yatra must return to its roots as journey of discipline
On July 8, some participants in the Kanwar Yatra vandalised an eatery in Uttar Pradesh's Muzzafarnagar as they found onions in their meals – a vegetable that is taboo during the annual pilgrimage to Haridwar to carry back water from the Ganga. Shortly after, a woman travelling on the Haridwar-Rishikul Highway was dragged by her hair and beaten with slippers because her scooter accidentally grazed a pot that contained holy water. These were only two of several instances of violence by kanwariyas reported during this year's edition of the pilgrimage, which started on July 11 and ended on July 23. The exercise by devotees of the Hindu god Shiva is not supposed to be only a physical journey – it is intended to instill spiritual discipline too. The pilgrims are expected to abstain from alcohol and avoid arguments or violence. However, as these incidents show, the Kanwar Yatra in recent years has increasingly become a theatre of aggression. Pilgrims, clad in saffron, once walked in solemn devotion. But today, some wield hockey sticks and trishuls. They are often accompanied by trucks studded with loudspeakers that announce their presence in a manner that some would find alarming, if not threatening. 🎥 #WATCH | 🔊 Decibel levels have shot up in the capital over the past few days as a steady stream of kanwariyas with boomboxes 📢 make their way through the city for their annual pilgrimage 🙏🛕 🚨 Despite the noise levels exceeding permissible limits, the Delhi Police 👮♂️ and… — Hindustan Times (@htTweets) July 23, 2025 Several people travelling or operating businesses on the Kanwar Yatra routes faced assaults by kanwariyas after petty disputes or inconveniences. The state's role is both silence and encouragement. This includes exempting participants from traffic laws, providing them with police escorts and showering petals on them. Though many officials view Muslims praying in public spaces as a nuisance, they have no hesitation lending a helping hand to kanwariyas. This has created a culture of impunity that is so strong, even uniformed personnel were not spared. In Uttar Pradesh's Mirzapur on July 19, a Central Reserve Police Force jawan was attacked by kanwariyas after a ticketing dispute. Though the assailants were arrested by the Railway Protection Force, they were released within an hour. If the law enforcement officials can be targeted so brazenly, it suggests not just loss of control but a deeper cultural shift – the belief that faith grants immunity and that public infrastructure will bend to the might of politicised faith. After all this, when the state responded, it did so in a manner that was predictably performative. Uttar Pradesh authorities eventually banned trishuls and hockey sticks on the route and issued belated warnings against violence. Though some FIRs were filed, such legal action did little to inhibit such behaviour. Each of these incidents weaves a larger story where acts of faith have been repurposed as performances of domination and creating spectacles of humiliation, especially for minorities. Needless to state, the intent of the Yatra is not aggression. But a few miscreants have muddied perceptions of the whole Yatra. An additional challenge was thrown up this year by a directive from the Uttar Pradesh authorities requiring vendors and shop owners to display QR code stickers outside their shops. These codes were purportedly linked to a food safety app that revealed the names and religious and caste identity of the owners. The religious identities of stall owners along the route of the Yatra has often been the cause of conflict. Kanwariyas have been known to boycott Muslim vendors or even attack them. Though the directive on the QR codes was challenged before the Supreme Court, the judges refused to examine the legality of the order. Instead, they reiterated that vendors must display their licences and registration certificates as required by the law. Pintu, a worker washing dishes at a dhaba in Muzaffarnagar, was assaulted so brutally his leg broke. The reason? A piece of onion accidentally landed in a meal ordered by a kanwariya. Watch @anmolpritamND 's report on how faith is being weaponised: — newslaundry (@newslaundry) July 12, 2025 Ironically, the Supreme Court last year had stayed similar directives by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand requiring owners of eateries to display the names of their owners and staff. Such disclosure not only violates the right to privacy but also the bundle of rights related to the protection of life and personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Supreme Court's reluctance this year to examine the legality of the directive on QR codes leaves the door open for future abuses. This order, like last year's directive on names, lacks legal basis and perpetuates a climate of fear. The Kanwar Yatra's devotees undeniably have the right to eat and shop at establishments of their choice – but not at the cost of forcing shop owners and staff to disclose their identities, especially amid recurring violence. When two rights clashes, the solution lies in equilibrium and upholding religious freedom while safeguarding privacy and dignity. The state must ensure that logistical measures for the Yatra do not morph into instruments of profiling or intimidation. Until then, such directives will remain not just legally untenable but socially corrosive, undermining the pluralism the Constitution seeks to protect. While many still uphold the Yatra's true spirit – offering food, shelter, and flowers to pilgrims – the rising violence tarnishes its sanctity. A visible minority has hijacked perceptions of the event. The state's failure to curb this aggression risks normalising faith-based vigilantism, eroding the very pluralism the Constitution seeks to protect. Sociologist Santosh Singh has rightly argued that the Kanwar Yatra was a path of penance and pain, not spectacle and violence. 'Today, are we even listening to our gods and what they signify in essence?' he wrote in The Indian Express. The Kanwar Yatra must return to its roots – a journey of discipline, not domination. The state must enforce the law equally, ensuring that no religion enjoys a free pass for violence. Civil society, too, must resist the politicisation of faith and uphold the true essence of devotion – peace, humility and respect for all. Otherwise, what was once a sacred pilgrimage risks becoming an annual ritual of fear and division.
India Today
3 hours ago
- India Today
'Love Jihad' gang busted in UP's Kushinagar, 2 women among 8 arrested
Kushinagar police have busted a gang allegedly involved in trapping Hindu girls in the guise of "Love Jihad" and forcibly converting them to Islam. A total of eight individuals, including two women, have been arrested in connection with the arrests were made following a complaint lodged by Sunil Verma, who alleged that his 19-year-old daughter was lured and taken to Amritsar, where she was forcibly converted and kept hidden by a group operating as an organised on the complaint, a joint team of local police and cyber cell launched a search operation and recovered the girl safely on Sunday. Police also recovered two Aadhaar cards-one in her original name, Neha Verma, and another issued in her converted name, Parvani Khatoon — along with 11 SIM cards and nine mobile phones allegedly used in the operation. Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Mishra said, "Complainant Sunil Verma of Mahuawa Buzurg submitted an application saying that his daughter was taken from Amritsar and hidden after being converted by some individuals. This was an organised gang, and eight people have been arrested so far. Ashiq Ansari, Imtiyaz, Mohammad Sahab, among others, gave her a new name after conversion and kept her hidden. Further investigation is ongoing."The arrested individuals have been identified as Taufiq Ansari, Ashiq Ansari and his son Imtiyaz, Mohammad Sahab Ansari, Zeeshan Qamar, Mazhar, and two women, Kaiser Jahan and Fatima. According to the police, the accused confessed to being part of a well-organised network that targeted Hindu women for religious claimed the gang pursued the victim over a long period, manipulating her through emotional exploitation and inducements, and ultimately coerced her into conversion. They also said Taufiq Ansari used explicit videos and recorded conversations to blackmail the victim's Jahan and Fatima allegedly played a key role in psychologically manipulating the girl, showing her religious content to influence her FIR has been registered under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021. A manhunt is underway to trace other gang members who remain absconding.- EndsMust Watch IN THIS STORY#Uttar Pradesh
