FIR filed against UP school teacher for reciting poem allegedly critical of Kanwar Yatra
Bareilly: A government school teacher in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district has been booked for allegedly reciting a poem critical of the Kanwar Yatra during a morning assembly, sparking protests from local residents.
The teacher, identified as Rajneesh Gangwar, was filmed reciting a poem that urged people not to embark on the Kanwar Yatra and instead “light the lamp of knowledge,” as reported by The Indian Express on Tuesday. The video quickly went viral on social media, triggering outrage from members of the local community and religious groups.
"Don't embark on kanwar yatra, light the lamp of knowledge instead," UP govt teacher's poem lands him in soup
— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) July 14, 2025
A complaint was registered against govt teacher Rajneesh Gangwar in UP's Bareilly over the poem he recited. In the five-minute video, the teacher is purportedly heard… pic.twitter.com/0HvoKwas4h
The complaint was filed by the Kanwar Seva Samiti, following which a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Gangwar under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to statements conducive to public mischief.
Meanwhile, the accused teacher has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that he is being targeted as part of a larger conspiracy. "During an activity, I read a poem to the students and did not say anything wrong. However, for some time now, there has been a conspiracy against me within the school. About a year-and-a-half ago, there was an attempt to file an FIR against me, accusing me of assaulting students. When nothing was found, a 26-second video was cut to create a false narrative against me," Times of India quoted him as saying.
The Kanwar Yatra, a Hindu pilgrimage, began last week and is scheduled to conclude on August 9.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
