MEERUT, July 15 -- A government school teacher in Baheri town of Bareilly district has been booked after a video of him allegedly reciting a poem discouraging students from participating in the Kanwar Yatra went viral on social media, police said on Monday.

The teacher, identified as Rajneesh Gangwar of MGM Inter College, has been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) section 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) following a complaint filed by the Mahakal Seva Samiti, police added.

The controversy centres around a video in which Gangwar is seen reciting a poem during the morning assembly. Titled "Tum Kanwar Lene Mat Jana. Gyaan Ka Deep Jalana" (Don't go to fetch the Kanwar, light the lamp of knowledge instead), the poem ...