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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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
