An Army outreach event at India's "first village" becomes a test of civil-military coordination

A two-day cultural festival held by the Indian Army in Uttarakhand’s border belt has become a dispute over who planned it, who approved it and who is answerable for it. The Chamoli district administration, which had publicised the event and helped organise it, has now stepped back and issued a notice to the Army. The Army says the event was jointly coordinated with civil authorities at an appropriate venue.

The Devbhoomi Cultural Festival was held on September 19 and 20 in the Mana and Bamni area of Chamoli, under the Vibrant Village scheme. It was held under the Army’s Operation Sadbhavana, its civic outreach programme for border communities. The Army says it took place at a designated cultural and heritage site near Mana village, around 2 km from the Badrinath temple premises, and that the venue has an amphitheatre and lies away from the temple complex. Mana is recognised as India’s first village and sits close to the Line of Actual Control with China.

The trouble began when a video of a woman singer performing on stage went viral. Critics called the event a “DJ” or rave-style programme near one of the Char Dham shrines. Objections came from religious groups and political figures. Brijesh Sati, general secretary of the Char Dham Teerth Purohit Mahapanchayat, argued that loud noise is not allowed at Badrinath because Lord Vishnu is in a meditative posture there. The Shankaracharya Math also objected, saying such events did not fit the religious character of the pilgrimage site.

The administration’s turn

After the row erupted, the district administration deleted its own social media posts about the festival. District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar then issued a show-cause notice to the Commanding Officer of the Garhwal Scouts, asking why the event was organised in the Badrinath Dham area without prior permission. He said the administration had set up stalls to publicise central and state government schemes at the Army’s request, but had played no role in choosing the cultural programmes or handling the associated payments. He added that a ban has been imposed on such events in the area going forward, and that any programme in keeping with the shrine’s traditions will require prior permission from the sub-divisional magistrate. Uttarakhand’s Tourism Secretary, Dhiraaj Singh Garbyal, said the programme was mainly organised by the Army, and indicated that loud music would be avoided in future.

The Army’s account

The Army, through sources, contests the picture of an unauthorised event. It says the festival was planned with the civil administration, and that the controversy conflated the venue and the nature of the programme. Army sources say there was no DJ, and that the performer, Priyanka Meher, is a local contemporary folk artist.

The paper trail appears to support the claim of joint planning. The district administration had nominated its Chief Development Officer as nodal officer for the festival on September 8, and a multi-department review meeting was held on September 10 with various stakeholders, including the Army. Sources also say multiple meetings between the Army and civil authorities preceded the event. The Chief Minister’s Office itself described the festival on social media as being held under the joint aegis of the Army and the Chamoli district administration, and the Chief Minister attended it.

The Army’s case is also that the event fits the purpose of the scheme. The festival was designed around the economy of forward areas, women’s empowerment and cultural heritage, in line with the Vibrant Village programme, which aims to reverse outmigration from border villages by promoting tourism, livelihoods and local culture. Army outreach in such areas is meant to strengthen ties between border communities and the security forces, a role that matters in villages this close to the LAC.

Two questions however remain open. The first is whether the specific permission the notice refers to was required for a venue 2 km from the temple, and whether it was sought. The second is whether the new SDM-approval rule will apply to Army-led outreach events across Chamoli’s border villages. The Army has not said whether it will formally reply to the notice. For now, the dispute has left a joint event, planned in the open and attended by the state’s chief minister, disowned by the civil side after the online backlash.