BHOPAL: Maintaining that Garba venues should only be accessible to Hindu men, a Hindu outfit has demanded that Aadhar card be made compulsory at all Garba pandals in Bhopal to prevent entry of non-Hindus during the upcoming Navratri.
The 125-year-old Hindu Utsav Samiti (HUS) has demanded that Aadhar card be made mandatory for every man entering the 20-25 garba pandals in Bhopal, and to prevent any non-Hindus from entering the pandal.
“Several non-Hindus posing as Hindus enter the garba pandals right from the time when the garba practice sessions begin. These men first befriend Hindu girls and later exploit them. The garbas are meant for Hindus only and no non-Hindu should be allowed inside the venues at any cost,” demanded HUS president Kailash Begwani at the peace committee meeting chaired by the Bhopal district collector Sudama Khade on Wednesday.
“The district collector has assured us to take up with garba organisers our demand to make Aadhar card mandatory for men entering the garba venue. If the demand is not met this time, we know our own ways to enforce it from the next garba season,” Kailash Begwani told the New Indian Express on Friday.
Kailash Begwani added that making Aadhar card mandatory to enter the venues has been demanded as it cannot be tampered with.
The HUS, which has 6000 members, earlier used to organise all major Hindu festivals in Bhopal but is now engaged in organising festivals like Dussehra, Rang Panchami/Holi and Ram Barat only in the state capital.
Despite repeated attempts, Bhopal district collector Sudam Khade was unavailable for comment.
Ahead of Navratri celebrations in 2014, ruling BJP legislator from Indore-III seat of Indore district, Usha Thakur, had demanded to ban the entry of Muslims at Garba venues.