Taking a leaf out of his chief's book, UP CM Yogi Adityanath today refused to wear karakul (a woollen cap favoured by Muslims) at the shrine of Saint Kabir today. A karakul is the kind of cap that used to be worn by Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah or at times by former J-K CM Farooq Abdullah.


Adityanath who entered Kabir's mazhar in Maghar in Uttar Pradesh for a recce ahead of PM Modi's visit, was offered a karakul by the caretakers of the mazhar. The UP CM however pushed it away.


It may be recalled that in 2011, when Narendra Modi was the Gujarat CM, he refused to wear a skull cap offered by a Muslim cleric during his sadbhavana fast in Ahmedabad. In an interview given to India TV on the  incident, Modi said, "If a cap is a symbol of unity then why did Mahatma Gandhi not wear any. If by wearing a cap one becomes a symbol of unity then nobody has ever seen Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel and Pandit Nehru wearing this kind of a cap."


Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Uttar Pradesh to inaugurate a two-day 'Kabir Mahotsav' at Maghar in Sant Kabir district of of the state. The PM offered a chaadar at Kabir's mazhar and will unveil a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Kabir Academy. Kabir died 500 years ago and programmes including a dance and music festival will mark the event.