The Maharashtra Police and devotees of the Warkari sect got into an altercation in Pune on Sunday, reported NDTV. The Opposition parties have claimed that the Warkaris, devotees of Hindu deity Vithoba, were baton-charged by the police – as can be seen in a video. However, the police and government have denied the charges.
The incident took place when the devotees were trying to enter the Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Samadhi temple in Alandi town during the annual Ashadhi Ekadashi pilgrimage to Pandharpur, reported PTI.
Pimpri Chinchwad Police Commissioner Vinay Kumar Choubey said that the police were allowing devotees to enter the temple in batches of 75, but some of them breached the barricades and tried to jump the queue.
“There was an altercation when police tried to stop them [those forcibly entering the temple],” Choubey said, refuting allegations of baton-charge.
संतश्रेष्ठ ज्ञानेश्वर माऊलींच्या पालखी सोहळ्याचे आज आळंदीमधून प्रस्थान होत आहे. तत्पूर्वी पोलीस आणि वारकऱ्यांमध्ये तणाव निर्माण झाला. यावेळी पोलिसांनी वाकऱ्यांवर सौम्य लाठीचार्जही केला. pic.twitter.com/gqvy0s5AC9
— Saamana (@SaamanaOnline) June 11, 2023
Opposition parties have, however, targeted the government on the incident.
“The pretensions of the Hindutva government have been exposed,” tweeted Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) MP Sanjay Raut. “The mask fell off. How was Aurangzeb behaving differently? Mughals have reincarnated in Maharashtra.”
Nationalist Congress Party MLA…
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