Thursday, 06 July 2023 | PURNIMA BISHT | DEHRADUN
Female YouTuber is seen proposing to her boyfriend in the video
The video of a female YouTuber proposing to her boyfriend outside Kedarnath temple in Rudraprayag district has elicited mixed reactions from people across the country in the past few days after it went viral on social media. People on social media as well as in the State are mainly divided into two groups on the issue. Some stated that it is outrageous how people are visiting Char Dham shrines only to use it to increase their social media following rather than having any religious sentiment.
Others opined that engagement and marriages have traditionally taken place in and around the temple and there is nothing to be offended if a woman proposed to her boyfriend in Kedarnath. A school teacher in Dehradun Sapna Vishwakarma said, “These social media influencers make dance videos on cheap movie songs, funny videos, proposal videos and do similar activities in Char Dham premises just to strengthen their so called presence in social media platforms. These shrines are just a medium for them to get short term fame. Such activities should be monitored by authorities and appropriate action should be taken against such people.” A banker Diwas Bhatt opined that there is nothing in that video that should hurt any religious sentiment. He said, “It can be clearly seen that the woman and her boyfriend were dressed in traditional clothes when she proposed to him. I did not find anything offensive that hurt my religious sentiments. We should not target them just because they posted their proposal video on Instagram. Who is not posting videos and pictures on social media in today’s time? Yes, indecent activities should be monitored but not everything being uploaded on social media is bad.”
Swinging into action after the video went viral, the Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has written a letter to the police and asked it to keep a strict vigil on people making videos on the premises claiming they hurt the sentiments of devotees. In a letter to the Kedarnath police, the committee has claimed that some YouTubers, Instagram Influencers are making videos, YouTube shots and Instagram reels against the religious sentiments of people because of which religious sentiments of devotees visiting the temple along with those living around the country and the world are hurt.
Giving his views on the issue, the founder of the Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation Anoop Nautiyal said that it is necessary to take appropriate and sincere actions to ensure that pilgrims maintain the sanctity of temples not just in Char Dham shrines but across the State. He said that the State government is determined to create a record of the maximum number of pilgrims’ arrival without giving any thought to several associated issues which will get worse with time. “The main problem is that many people arriving at the Char Dham shrines throw traditions, religions and customs aside and do activities for social media platforms. The sanctity of such places should be maintained across the State. The government, district authorities, temple administration, self-help groups, local traders and other stakeholders should discourage such activities. If these are not restrained soon, such incidents will continue to become worse with each passing month and year,” said Nautiyal. It is also being said that the use of smartphones might be restricted in Kedarnath after the recent rise in such videos. However, Nautiyal said that it will not be a practical solution and it will just elicit unnecessary outrage from people. “The only solution is that the government and local bodies should raise awareness among people and discourage such activities at the local level,” he added.
