KUMAR PRABHAT, DUMKA
The fourth day of the State Shravani Mela 2026 witnessed high drama at the Basukinath temple when a group of around a dozen ‘dak kanwarias’ from Chhattisgarh, including female pilgrims, staged a turbulent protest lasting nearly three quarters of an hour at the postal entry gate.
The commotion erupted as the pilgrims, armed exclusively with postal entry passes issued for the Deoghar Baidyanath Dham temple, insisted on using them to force their way through the dedicated postal entry gate of the Basukinath temple. Despite polite and repeated appeals from on-duty police personnel and the duty magistrate explaining that entry passes specific to Deoghar are invalid for direct access at Basukinath, the group remained adamant.
The situation escalated as a few individuals resorted to shoving past security, managing to breach the entrance forcibly. Attempts by officials and onlookers to reason with the devotees through courteous persuasion were met with hostility and intimidation. While the district administration remains steadfastly committed to ensuring top-tier safety and round-the-clock convenience for the visiting pilgrims, such aggressive posturing and intimidation of frontline personnel on duty raise serious concerns about decorum during the sacred pilgrimage.
