'Who are you to ask for Aadhaar?': Uttarakhand police stop Hindutva leader

Hindutva Muzaffarnagar leader Swami Yashveer Maharaj and his supporters were stopped by Uttarakhand Police from entering Haridwar at the Narsan checkpost on the UP-Uttarakhand border, on Friday, July 4.

The incident occurred during his Pehchaan Abhiyaan movement, a campaign aimed at identifying Muslim eatery owners through Aadhaar card verification along the Kanwar yatra route.

“Tum kaun lagte Aadhaar maangne waale? (Who are you to demand Aadhaar cards?),” police officials ask Yashveer Maharaj and his supporters. They also clarified it could have led to a law and order condition in the Kanwar Yatra route.

Hindutva Muzaffarnagar leader Swami Yashveer Maharaj and his supporters were stopped by Uttarakhand Police from entering Haridwar at the Narsan checkpost on the UP-Uttarakhand border, on Friday.

The incident occurred during his Pehchaan Abhiyaan movement, a campaign aimed at… pic.twitter.com/HARCfhit5J

— The Siasat Daily (@TheSiasatDaily) July 4, 2025

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Last month, Yashveer Maharaj released an Islamophobic video, calling the Muslim community as ‘jihadis.’ “There are certain people with a “jihadi” mentality on the Kanwar Yatra routethat run hotels, dhabas, tea stalls, juice stalls, sweet shops using the names of our gods and goddesses, or with dharmic names,” he said in the video.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) national president Asaduddin Owaisi had demanded strict action against the Hindutva leader, questioning how the campaign had been allowed in Uttar Pradesh insofar.

“Are the vigilante groups government authorities that can demand Aadhaar cards? And such violence, the forced stripping of a man to check his genitals, is so disgusting. How is the police not arresting these people?” he asked.

Raising questions against the Yogi Adityanath regime, Owaisi asked, “They are acting as if they are above the law. By what right do you enter the hotels and harass people? Who are they to demand documents? Why is the government not taking action against them?”

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Owaisi condemns brutal humiliation of UP dhaba owners on Kanwar Yatra route

The Supreme Court, the UP government, and the Uttarakhand government have been going back and forth for the last few years over the issue of eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route. Swami Yashveer Maharaj has been an extremist, fringe figure in the discussion demanding all eateries display the names of hotel owners, so pilgrims may know if they are eating in a Hindu-owned eatery or a Muslim-owned eatery.

“Worshippers unknowingly commit sacrilege when Muslim staff mix in cow meat, spit, or urinate into their food to make it impure. This makes men impotent and women infertile,” Maharaj claimed. 

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