Bareilly’s Islamic religious event drops meat from menu, changes dates because of Kanwar Yatra

Meat has been removed from the menu of an Islamic religious event in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly in view of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra, The Indian Express reported.

The organisers said that the decision was taken based on a request by the district administration and the police.

The event is the 108th Urs-e-Razvi, a three-day annual commemoration of the death anniversary of the 19th-century Sufi scholar Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Barelvi. Devotees from around the world are expected to attend.

The administration of Ala Hazrat Dargah – the shrine of Barelvi – has also rescheduled the event, which falls during the Hindu month of Sawan this year. It will now be held from August 6 to August 8 instead of August 7 to August 9.

During the Kanwar Yatra, devotees, called kanwariyas, walk hundreds of kilometres to collect water from the Ganga near Haridwar and carry it back to their home states to offer at temples. The Kanwar Yatra began on July 30 and will end on August 11.

Media in-charge of the Ala Hazrat Dargah Nasir Qureshi said that the decision to “change the dates was taken keeping in mind the presence of large numbers of Kanwariyas in the city, as well as a request from the district administration and police”, The Indian Express reported.

He said...

Read more