Hindutva activists barge into Miss Rishikesh Pageant rehearsal, disrupt event
Rishikesh: A rehearsal for the upcoming Miss Rishikesh beauty pageant was briefly disrupted on Friday afternoon when members of a right-wing group, Rashtriya Hindu Shakti Sangathan, entered the venue and objected to the event, claiming it was “against the culture of Uttarakhand.”
According to organisers, three members of the outfit arrived at the venue around 2 p.m. while contestants and choreographers were practising. “One of the group members, Raghav Bhatnagar, began objecting to the clothes worn by the participants,” said Dhiraj Makhija, director of the Lions Club Royal, which has been conducting the Miss Rishikesh pageant for the past five years.
Makhija said the event is held annually as part of the Lions Diwali Mela and aims to provide a platform for local women to progress to larger competitions. “We have never faced such objections before. The top five contestants from Miss Rishikesh qualify for the Miss Uttarakhand pageant. This initiative is meant to empower women, not go against any culture,” he said.
The organisers described the Lions Club as a family-based social organisation representing business and professional communities in Rishikesh.
A video of the incident, now viral on social media, shows Bhatnagar objecting to the participants’ attire, stating that it was against the “sanskriti of Uttarakhand.” The footage also shows contestants confronting him and questioning why they were being filmed. Bhatnagar is heard declaring that he would not allow such events to take place in “the city of pilgrimages.”
One of the coordinators can be heard explaining that the event had the consent of all participants and their parents. Despite the exchange, the group members continued to oppose the event.
The Miss Rishikesh pageant went ahead as scheduled on Saturday without further disruptions. Police confirmed they had not received any formal complaint and said the matter had been resolved amicably between the parties involved.
ऋषिकेश में कल का दिन हंगामों से भरा रहा। देहरादून रोड स्थित एक होटल में जहां नगर निगम की बोर्ड बैठक के दौरान पार्षदों ने विकास कार्य न होने पर एजेंडा के पर्चे हवा में उछालते हुए विरोध किया, वहीं उसी होटल के दूसरे हॉल में मिस ऋषिकेश ऑडिशन के बीच हिंदू संगठनों ने वेस्टर्न परिधानों… pic.twitter.com/o98UitNNCe
— Kumaon Jagran (@KumaonJagran) October 4, 2025
Reacting to the incident, Muskan Sharma, one of the contestants, told The Indian Express that women in the fashion industry often face unfair judgment. “Our culture cannot be defined by the clothes we wear. India is a country of diverse traditions, and everyone deserves respect. Foreign tourists visit Rishikesh every day, and we don’t ask them to change their attire,” she said, adding that such events help young women build their careers.
The Rashtriya Hindu Shakti Sangathan, registered in January 2017, describes itself as an organisation working to “protect Indian culture” and prevent “religious conversions.” The outfit had previously made headlines for raising objections over a land parcel in Muzaffarnagar, alleging links to Pakistan’s first Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, after which the property was declared “enemy property.”
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Police refused to file FIR in Baramati plane crash; our suspicion growing stronger, says Rohit Pawar
Mumbai (PTI): NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar on Wednesday claimed that the Mumbai police refused to file an FIR in connection with the plane crash, in which Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was killed, and said the refusal has deepened the suspicion surrounding the accident.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday directed the grounding of four aircraft of VSR Ventures, whose plane crashed at Baramati on January 28, killing Ajit Pawar and four others.
Following the crash of the Learjet 45 aircraft (VT-SSK), the aviation regulator had ordered a special safety audit of VSR Ventures, and the audit team observed several non-compliances of approved procedures in the area of airworthiness, air safety, and flight operations.
In a message posted on a social media platform, Rohit Pawar claimed, "While awaiting appropriate action regarding Ajitdada's plane crash, yesterday the DGCA report arrived stating that this accident was caused by the negligence of VSR company."
However, since no FIR has been filed in this regard, he along with party MLC Amol Mitkari, Idris Naikwadi and MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar, went to the Marine Drive police station in south Mumbai to demand registration of an FIR under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he said.
He claimed that when the process to record his statement began, a senior police official refused to register the FIR and instead accepted their application merely as a formality.
"The conduct of the police has further intensified our suspicion regarding the plane crash. If even after demands by elected representatives from both the opposition and the ruling parties the police are discarding the demand to register an FIR, it is unfortunate for Maharashtra," Pawar, who represents the Karjat-Jamkhed assembly constituency in Ahilyanagar district, said in the post.
The government and the machinery appeared to be protecting someone, he alleged, and questioned whether Ajit Pawar would get justice if such a situation persisted.
The NCP (SP) legislator said they would not relent until the matter is taken to its logical conclusion.
He added that at 9 am on Thursday, all those who love his uncle Ajit Pawar would go to the Baramati taluka police station to press for registration of an FIR.
While the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is expected to come out with its preliminary report into the fatal crash before February 28, concerns have been raised in certain quarters claiming there could have been a conspiracy that led to the crash.
