With the onset of Sawan, an familiar movement returns to the streets of North India every year – the flood of saffron colored, the echo of the bol bomb and millions of kawandis who come out to see Lord Shiva with Ganga water. This time the journey lasted from 11 July to 23 July. According to the data released by the fair control room of Uttarakhand Police, only more than 4.5 crore devotees reached Haridwar during this period. At the same time, through the boundaries of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi, crores of Kawandis were active on roadways throughout the period of the yatra! This figure is recorded in the common press releases of the Uttar Pradesh Home Department and the Government of Uttarakhand.
Such a large number is not just an administrative information, it is a sign of a social, cultural and political event, which is in faith but the spread has been done in many directions. While earlier the Kavad Yatra used to take the form of personal tenacity and silent practice, now it has taken the form of organized, public and performing reverence-which includes DJs, Jhankis, flags on motorcycles and sometimes power-demonstrations.
These changes are not only external -they are changing the definition of this journey. Now it has been tested not only of the devotee, but also the administration, citizen and society. Kavad is no longer an event but an operation – in which religion, technology, politics and system all go together.
Security, service and streets test
This year, during the visit to Kavad, the Uttar Pradesh government deployed 66,000 police and security personnel – including RAF, QRT, ATS, PAC and Home Guards! This information came to light in the media briefing of UP DGP Rajiv Krishna. Apart from this, 587 gazetted officers, 2,040 inspectors, and 13,520 sub -inspectors were also kept ready. Delhi Police also deployed more than 5,000 personnel, as well as in addition to 15 companies, the force took the front.
The technical surveillance was more widespread than before – dozens of drones, more than 29,454 CCTV cameras and a 24×7 control room were installed. The Uttar Pradesh Police monitored the accounts spreading fake clips and rumors from this drone-CCTV mesh, through an eight-member social media taskforce.
Public service preparations were also done in the same manner: a total of 1,845 water centers, 829 medical camps, and 1,222 police aid booths were set up. Special assistance was given by deploying 3,200 women policemen in Meerut area, while more than 10,000 women police officers in Uttar Pradesh were on special duty for women passengers.
Traffic was also managed at digital and ground level-some routes including Delhi-Meerut Expressway were closed, so that about 15,000 devotees could travel safely every day. Police on large roads of NCR managed diversion through measures like QR code, LED board and mobile alert.
Seeing these preparations, it was clear that the event was not just a devotional journey, but a completely modern law and order operation.
When chaos collided with faith
In the midst of the bright layers of Shraddha, there were some such cracks this time, which destroyed the peaceful form of Kavad Yatra. On July 21, the UP police arrested three accused-Nadim, Mansar and Rahis, who tried to spread tension in communities by making fake videos made in Pakistan viral in WhatsApp groups. According to DIG Saharanpur, Abhishek Singh, the video shown killing Muslims with wrong facts, and preliminary investigation also spoke about the possibilities of his ISI link.
On the other hand, the police arrested 82 fake sadhus in the name of ‘Operation Kalnemi’ in Uttarakhand-who were taking advantage of the faith of Kawad and Char Dham passengers. Of these, 34 arrests were recorded only in the second retrenchment campaign in Dehradun.
The situation was not controlled many times at the local level. Kawandis threw stones at a bus and police vehicle at Bahadarabad toll plaza in Haridwar, in which an FIR was lodged and two kanwadi were detained. The tension in Meerut went to its peak when a school bus was damaged during the fight.
The police tried to control them with the help of traffic police, ATS, RAF, but social media and video footage were not always accurate-in many cases the police clarified that the videos that are going viral are of previous years. Social media monitoring sales of Mirzapur, Agra and Noida registered several primary prosecutions against fake videos.
Flower rain, politics drops
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath converted the journey into a political ceremony, not just an administrative event, not just an administrative event. On July 20, from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar, he launched a wreath on the kawandis by helicopter, which was described as ‘greetings of devotees’ in the government social media post. At the same time, he also warned of “who will discredit the Kandar Yatra, identified them by section 153-A and I-portal”, while the opposition described it as a politicalization of religious events and said that now religious events have become a platform to woo voters.
For the first time, the Uttar Pradesh government deployed more than 10,000 women police officers, 8,541 head constables and 1,486 sub -engineers and adopted the ‘women -centric security’ model. The move was described as a symbol of social equality, but the opposition called it a “election representation”.
In a viral video, a DSP woman was seen massaging the feet of a Kanwariya -some considered it a service spirit, some called the administrative print!
Now the question is…
As the size and impact of the Kavad Yatra is increasing, the question has become even more important as to how far this will last the process of reverence and system. Can we design such religious events in the form where faith is also safe and not general life is also interrupted? Should it be the achievement of the administration every year or the common responsibility of the whole society to take care of the crowd of millions? The Kandar Yatra is no longer a religious tradition, but a social system has become a test – and the role of all in this examination is equal.
