A day after a clash between a group of Sikh pilgrims and local residents over a parking dispute in Uttarakhand’s Karnprayag left five people injured, the Gurdwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib Management Trust on Wednesday appealed to devotees to maintain peace, discipline and communal harmony during the ongoing pilgrimage.
The appeal came amid tensions triggered by Tuesday’s violence near Panch Puliya in Karnprayag in Chamoli district, which also led to a four-hour blockade of the Badrinath National Highway (NH-07) by angry locals.
In a statement shared by the Uttarakhand Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), the Trust’s manager, Sardar Sewa Singh, urged devotees visiting Sri Hemkunt Sahib to undertake the pilgrimage with faith and decorum and avoid any action that could hurt religious sentiments or disturb social harmony.
The Trust also advised pilgrims not to carry weapons unnecessarily. “In Sikhism, the importance of weapons is for the protection of religion, not for their misuse," the statement said, adding that special care should be taken to ensure that children accompanying pilgrims do not carry any kind of weapon.
The Trust noted that thousands of devotees have already paid obeisance at the shrine since the yatra began on May 23 and appealed to pilgrims to cooperate with authorities in maintaining law and order.
The incident that sparked the appeal occurred on Monday morning when a group of pilgrims travelling to Hemkund Sahib allegedly parked their vehicle in front of a local hotel in Karnprayag. According to eyewitnesses, an argument ensued and escalated into violence, with the pilgrims allegedly attacking local residents with swords and kirpans.
Police said five persons were injured in the clash. They were identified as Prakash Rawat (26), Sudarshan Kandari (55), Gajpal Singh (50) and Harendra Singh (42), all residents of Karnprayag, and Manpreet Singh (21), a resident of Punjab’s Mohali. One of the injured was stated to be in a critical condition and was referred to a higher medical centre.
The incident prompted locals to gather near the Karnprayag police post and block the Badrinath National Highway, causing massive traffic snarls. Hundreds of vehicles carrying pilgrims to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, besides local commuters, remained stranded for several hours.
To regulate traffic, police temporarily halted vehicles at a designated holding area in Gauchar.
The protest was called off only after Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar reached the spot and held talks with the protesters. During the discussions, locals demanded a ban on carrying sharp-edged weapons during religious pilgrimages.
Kumar assured the protesters that the safety of both pilgrims and local residents was the administration’s top priority. He said no form of lawlessness would be tolerated and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.
The Hemkunt Sahib Trust, meanwhile, emphasised that Uttarakhand is known as Devbhoomi and is home to revered shrines such as Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri. It urged devotees to complete the pilgrimage peacefully and seek help from authorities in case of any dispute instead of taking the law into their own hands.
