Muzaffarnagar: Sitting in his ‘yoga’ ashram in Baghra, about 15 km from the district headquarters, Swami Yashveer Maharaj is a familiar name in parts of Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, but for all the wrong reasons.
The self-anointed pracharak (preacher) of “Sanatan Vedic Hindu Dharma” is at the centre of the controversy over a police order asking eateries and fruit/vegetable vendors in the district to display the name of proprietor(s) ahead of the Kanwar Yatra to avoid “any confusion”.
The yatra is an annual pilgrimage undertaken in the Hindu calendar month of Shravana to ferry water from the Ganga and other rivers to shrines of the god Shiva. A prominent route of the yatra goes through Uttar Pradesh and culminates in Haridwar, Gaumukh or Gangotri in Uttarakhand.
About 240 km of this route falls in Muzaffarnagar, where police Monday asked all hotels, dhabas and street vendors along the Kanwar Yatra route to display names of proprietor(s) or those managing the shops. This direction, Swami Yashveer Maharaj has claimed, was issued to honour a “promise” made to him by the district police — a claim the police deny.
“This decision was taken in the official meeting regarding the Kanwar Yatra,” Satyanarayan Prajapat, Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar (City) told ThePrint.
But, local residents ThePrint spoke to said the preacher is likely to be behind this directive, which has come under criticism from various quarters for being ‘discriminatory’ against religious minorities, especially Muslims.
“Yashveer Maharaj is behind it. He keeps spewing fire against Muslims. All his statements are against Muslims and he works to divide Hindus and Muslims,” said Shahid, who runs a tea stall in Khalapar area.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Wednesday, the preacher claimed he was “promised” during a meeting with the district magistrate, police chief and other officials that “all Muslim” eatery owners would display their names prominently outside their establishments ahead of the Kanwar Yatra.
24 जून को मुजफ्फरनगर डीएम व पुलिस कप्तान व अन्य अधिकारियों ने मीटिंग में स्वामी यशवीर महाराज से जो वादा किया था की सभी मुसलमानों को अपने होटल ढाबे चाय मिठाई की दुकान फलों व सब्जी के ठेलों पर मोटे अक्षरों से अपना मुसलमान नाम लिखेंगे उस वादे को मुजफ्फरनगर पुलिस प्रशासन पूरा कर pic.twitter.com/k8q8PV6UJY
— Svami Yashveer Maharaj (@dharmaparchar) July 17, 2024
While the order itself did not state if it was meant only for Muslim proprietors of eateries, the district administration in a fresh order on 18 July said compliance with this direction is “voluntary”.
This was followed by a similar directive issued by Haridwar Police in Uttarakhand on 19 July. Here, too, Swami Yashveer Maharaj has claimed that the order was issued in line with a letter he wrote to Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami.
उतराखंड के मुख्यमंत्री पुष्कारी धामी को स्वामी यशवीर महाराज ने भेजा पत्र कांवड यात्रा मार्ग में मुसलमानों के होटल ढाबे मोटे अक्षरों में मुसलमान नाम लिखके चले हिन्दू देवी देवताओं के नाम से नहीं कांवड बनाने का लाईसेंस केवल हिन्दू को हो pic.twitter.com/iytXZ33yMK
— Svami Yashveer Maharaj (@dharmaparchar) July 8, 2024
Media reports suggest that in a similar measure ahead of the Kanwar Yatra last year, the preacher had asked Muslims who owned hotels along the route to remove pictures of Hindu deities from their establishments.
ThePrint reached his ashram in Baghra Friday but the preacher refused to meet.
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Who is Swami Yashveer Maharaj
Swami Yashveer Maharaj, currently in his mid-fifties, hails from Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar.
According to local residents, he has been running his ‘yoga’ ashram in Baghra for about 25 years now. While he has few followers on social media, the preacher is always in the news among local media.
His ashram in Baghra is surrounded by mango and pear gardens, and guarded round the clock with the help of multiple CCTV cameras. The main gate of the ashram, with blackened pink walls, remains closed at all times.
One of his disciples said on condition of anonymity, “Maharaj works for Hindus and protects Hindus from Muslims. His life is dedicated to protecting Hindus. He is in constant touch with the administration so that pilgrims do not face any kind of problem during the Kanwar Yatra and has been campaigning to save the sanctity of the Kanwar Yatra for many years.”
But when ThePrint spoke to local residents, they had a different story to tell. For instance, Pramod Kumar, who lives in Baghra, said the preacher does not do anything for the welfare of people in this area.
“If the people living in this area start following his words, there will be fights here every day. He pits Hindus against Muslims. This is his politics and through this he wants to increase his influence,” Kumar told ThePrint.
Noor Mohammed, who runs a tea stall on the road outside the ashram, has a similar tale to tell. He said the preacher had his tea stall closed for 15-20 days during the Kanwar Yatra last year. “I am a Muslim, so my shop was closed. Don’t know what will happen this year. There is a considerable population of Muslims in Baghra and everyone lives together with Hindus.”
In April 2022, the preacher made headlines for ‘converting’ eight people from two Muslim families ‘back to Hinduism using gangajal (water of the Ganges)’. Asked about the incident, the disciple quoted earlier said Swami Yashveer Maharaj has brought “hundreds” back to the Hindu fold.
And in May this year, the preacher in a post on X thanked the police and administration for adhering to his “ultimatum” and clearing the area near a temple in Muzaffarnagar’s Shiv Chowk of “jihadist” encroachment.
स्वामी यशवीर महाराज के अल्टीमेटम पर मुजफ्फरनगर शिवचौक पर मंदिर के आसपास से जेहादियों का सारा अतिक्रमण हटा पुलिस प्रशासन का बहुत धन्यवाद pic.twitter.com/OJTYs1Q0PT
— Svami Yashveer Maharaj (@dharmaparchar) May 17, 2024
His posts on social media reveal that the preacher was also invited to the Prana Pratishtha (consecration) of the Ram temple in Ayodhya in January.
During the Lok Sabha elections that concluded last month, Swami Yashveer Maharaj appealed to “Hindu heroes” in a Facebook post to “not defeat religion in the pursuit of victory for your caste”.
“What is going on in the country is no election, but a religious war,” he added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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