A viral video from Har Ki Pauri showing two men in ‘sheikh’ attire triggered tensions among priests and renewed calls to restrict access to Ganga ghats. The men, later identified as local youths, told police the act was for a YouTube video and were released after apologising
-1768363944863_d.png "Uttarakhand: Two held for roaming around at Har Ki Pauri in 'sheikh' attire")
Representational Image (Pic/iStock)
Police have detained two men after a video purportedly showing them, wearing 'sheikh' attire (kandura), roaming around at Har Ki Pauri and bathing at Ganga ghat surfaced online, officials said on Tuesday. Police said that the video of the men roaming around Malviya Ghat and its surroundings at Har Ki Pauri caused a stir amidst demands to ban the entry of non-hindus to all Ganga ghats located in the Haridwar Kumbh Mela area.
When the priests in the area stopped and questioned them, the men identified themselves as Habibullah and Habibi, residents of Dubai. However, a few hours after the incident, the police detained them. During questioning by the police, they revealed their names as Naveen Kumar (22) and Prince (22), residents of Sidcul in Haridwar. They told the police that they were making a video for their YouTube channel.
Naveen and Prince later apologised for hurting religious sentiments and were instructed not to make such videos again. Police later released them.
In the purported video that surfaced online, one of them can be heard saying, "They can roam anywhere in India," when a priest asked them to leave the premises. The priest then informed members of the Ganga Sabha about the men.
Ujjwal Pandit, a member of the Ganga Sabha, had said that a search was launched after receiving information about the two men, but they had already left. He had alleged that the video clearly shows a deliberate attempt to disrupt the atmosphere of Har Ki Pauri.
Recently, the Ganga Sabha and the priest community have demanded that all Ganga ghats in the Kumbh Mela area, including Har Ki Pauri, be declared non-Hindu restricted zones, a demand that the Uttarakhand government is also seriously considerin.
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