By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The Ganga Sabha on Friday put up a couple of signboards at Har-Ki-Pauri proclaiming the place a prohibited area for non-Hindus under the bylaws of the 1916 Haridwar Municipal Act enacted under the erstwhile British rule.
At present, such ban is restricted only to Har-Ki-Pauri and its surrounding Malviya Ghat and Kusha Ghat, according to the Ganga Sabha.
However, the Ganga Sabha, a body of Har-Ki-Pauri-based priests, has recently sought a ban on the entry of non-Hindus in all the ghats falling under the Kumbh area in and around Haridwar by expanding the scope of the 1916 British law.
The Ganga Sabha, the organization that manages and maintains Har Ki Pauri and the surrounding ghats, has put up these boards on all the routes leading to the main bathing ghat as well as on the railings and pillars of the bridges. “These signboards have been put up to alert people that the entry of non-Hindus is banned at Har-Ki-Pauri,” said Tanmay Vashishth Secretary Ganga Sabha.
The move came after two boys posing as Sheikhs were seen roaming at Har Ki Pauri area on Wednesday. However, it was later revealed that the two boys, who were detained and later released, were Hindus and had come to make a video for their YouTube channel.
The Ganga Sabha has urged the government to ban the entry of non-Hindus at all religious places, temples, and Ganga ghats in the entire Haridwar Kumbh area before the Ardh Kumbh next year, a demand that Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said was being considered.
Following the Wednesday incident, the Ganga Sabha has also appealed to the people including the media persons not to allow non-Hindus at Har Ki Pauri. They stated that this was necessary to maintain the sanctity and purity of the area.