As millions of devotees will be travelling around northern India on Kanwar Yatra every year, the renowned Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh sent out an advisory to its students to be careful while travelling and to be safe during the pilgrimage period.
The advisory advises students to take reserved train coaches, carry their valid identity cards with them at all times, and avoid unnecessary travel during peak periods of the yatra.
That will ensure they are safe and convenient, and students can move in the presence of large crowds and security arrangements, the institution said.
The Kanwar Yatra is one of India’s biggest annual religious pilgrimages in which the devotees of Lord Shiva (Kanwariyas) gather holy water from rivers like the Ganga and go to their local temples to give it during the holy month of Shravan.
The event is characterized by massive gatherings, road diversions, crowded railway stations and more police in many of the states especially Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi and parts of Rajasthan.
The advice is that students in trains should avoid boarding overcrowded general compartments, and use a reserved coach when possible. The seminary also stressed the need to have official identity cards for transport in order to be verified by railway authorities or law enforcement personnel where possible.
Apart from travel instructions, students were advised to be patient, listen to the authorities and not engage in arguments or confront each other and to avoid getting into arguments or conflicts.
“We are just doing this as precautionary measures to avoid inconvenience and be as productive as possible during the busiest travel times of the year,” the institution said.
The security forces and local governments usually implement extensive arrangements during the Kanwar Yatra with traffic diversions, surveillance through CCTV cameras and drones, additional police presence, and crowd management measures. Railway stations and public transport hubs also are filled to capacity, with extremely high passenger numbers.
Educational institutions and organizations often issue travel advisories during large-scale public events to prevent students and staff from being stuck in unnecessary troubles.
Darul Uloom Deoband’s latest advisory is similar and focused on safe travel instead of restricting movement.
Authorities have always encouraged travelers to plan their journeys in advance, check and confirm the dates of their trains to confirm train reservations, obtain train tickets, obtain valid identification papers and follow railway officials and local government instructions. This allows the travel to be smooth and allows security personnel to handle large crowds efficiently.
The Kanwar Yatra is still one of India’s largest religious celebrations and millions of pilgrims come every year.
Public transportation in particular is very popular during the pilgrimage season and hence the advisory by Darul Uloom Deoband is very important for the students to be aware of the importance of safety, preparedness, and responsible travel during the festival period.
