This year’s Kanwar Yatra has been cancelled in Uttar Pradesh in view of the pandemic, reported news agency ANI. The latest development came just days after the Supreme Court made scathing observations on the Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to allow the annual rituals.
Earlier, the Uttarakhand government had cancelled this year’s Kanwar Yatra.
Kanwar Yatra has been cancelled in Uttar Pradesh, in view of COVID19: UP Government pic.twitter.com/X25JpZbdiL
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) July 17, 2021
Hearing the matter on Friday, Supreme Court judge, Justice RF Nariman had said, “We all are citizens of India. Article 21 – the Right to Life – applies to all. UP cannot go ahead with physical yatra. 100 percent.”
The Supreme Court on Wednesday had taken a suo motu notice of the Uttar Pradesh’s government’s decision to allow Kanwar Yatra amidst fears of the third wave of the pandemic hitting the country.
This year’s Kumbh Mela, which was attended by at least 10 million Hindus in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar, had acted as a superspreader in triggering the second wave of the pandemic. Hundreds of thousands of people had lost their lives. The BJP had to face widespread condemnation as families struggled to find hospital beds and places to perform last rites for their loved ones.