“Not Written in the Vedas”: No live streaming of Char Dham Yatra, says Uttarakhand CM

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that religious ceremonies performed in theinner sanctorum of Char Dham Yatra will not be live-streamed "as it is notwritten in the Vedas."

The decision came inthe wake of the High Court directive, asking the state government to put a stayon Char Dham Yatra this year and ensure live streaming of the yatra for thedevotees.

Speaking to reportersUttarakhand CM said, “After taking into account all the suggestions, we havedecided not to hold live streaming of Char Dham Yatra as it is not written inthe Vedas.”

Earlier this month,after the Uttarakhand High Court put a stay on Char Dham Yatra and directed thegovernment to ensure the rituals are live-streamed, the Uttarakhand AdvocateGeneral (AG) referred to Char Dham priests to state that Hindu Shastras do notpermit live streaming of rituals.

Objecting to AdvocateGeneral’s submissions, the court in its July 8 order observed thatIndia is a democratic country ruled by the law and not by ‘Shastras’.

The HC, still,proposed the option of live-streaming the ceremonies.

But after a meetingwith the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board on 17 July, CMDhami said that the live-streaming of only the outer premises of the shrineswould be possible.

Also read: PV Sindhu has improved her defence and worked on motion skills for Olympics; says coach Park Tae-Sang

The Uttarakhandgovernment also suspended the kanwar yatra amid detections of the Delta variantof COVID in the state, even as neighbouring Uttar Pradesh is deciding to goahead with the pilgrimage.

Tourism Minister andvice-chairman of the board Satpal Maharaj said, “The opinion of all the boardmembers, priests of shrines and other organisations have been received on theissue. The government will appraise the High Court about the opinion,” afterthe board’s meeting held on Friday.