Uttarakhand: Relentless Anti-Muslim Campaign Continues in Holy Month of Ramzan

Dehradun: The “relentless anti-Muslim campaign” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government, under the Chief Ministership of Pushkar Singh Dhami, is continuing during the Holy month of Ramzan, with the administration taking action against a dozen ‘madrassas’ and a mosque in Dehradun district in the past few days.

The agitated Muslim community, which is at the receiving end of the state government’s ire as well as the Hindutva brigade led by the Sangh Parivar, staged a protest on March 4, 2025, in front of the office of the Dehradun District Magistrate, terming the administrative action as “draconian, undemocratic and unconstitutional.” The protest was led by the local unit of the Jammiat-Ulema-E Hind and Muslim Sewa Sangathan. The protesters courted arrest and were later let off by the police from police lines.

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On instructions from Chief Minister Dhami, the state administration started action against ‘Madrassas’ and sealed five of them and giving notices to six others in village Dhakrani and Nawabgarh in Vikasnagar tehsil of Dehradun district and in Dehradun city as well. A mosque at Dhakrani has also been sealed off.

A team of local civil administration, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) and State Madrassa Board led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Vinod Kumar, had been raiding ‘Madrassas’ in Vikasnagar tehsil since March 1, 2025 leading to resentment amongst minority community.

The action comes in the backdrop of Chief Minister Dhami threatening action against Madrassas which, he claimed, were “running illegally”. Vinod Kumar, SDM, Vikasnagar, told the media that action had been taken against those Madrassas that were not registered with the state Madrassa Board or built without getting the map passed from the competent authorities.

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Nayeem Quraishy, president, Muslim Sewa Sangathan, told reporters that the action by the administration was “unwarranted and without any prior notice”.

A memorandum addressed to the District Magistrate stated that the administrative action was a clear violation of guarantees provided under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution for professing, propagating and teaching of religious studies.

Quraishy further said that the administration’s assertion of to seal the Madrassas not affiliated with Uttarakhand Madrassa Board was unlawful.

“These Madrassas are being run under the Societies Registration Act and Trusts and do not require affiliation with a government-managed institution. Interestingly, no legal order has been given for such sealing. The civil administration is passing the buck to MDDA, and we will start a protest against MDDA on Wednesday,” said Quraishy.

The recent onslaught on Madrassas is not new as since the advent of the BJP government in 2017,  there have been continuous attacks on Muslim and their institutions throughout the state. Chief Minister Dhami has himself spearheaded a campaign against the so-called ‘Love Jehad’, ‘Land Jehad’, ‘Mazar Jehad’ and ‘Thook Jehad’ since 2021.

The action against Madrassas was preceded by several anti-Muslim threats. Last week, Hindu Rakshak Dal, a Hindu outfit, suddenly announced to publicly recite the Hanuman Chalisa in front of the Dehradun Jama Masjid as they claimed that a two-minute Azaan (call to prayers) from the mosque was “disturbing” the general public.  The Hindu group was stopped by the police from approaching the mosque, and a case was registered on the complaint of the Muslim Sewa Sangathan, but no one was arrested.

Three weeks ago, on an alleged complaint of eve-teasing, members of an outfit called the Hindu Kali Sena publicly threatened a Muslim living and doing business in Nathuwala, near Doiwala. They allegedly smashed bill boards of Muslim-owned shops giving them an ultimatum to leave the area. A case was registered by the police and none has been arrested. Some out of the 30-odd Muslim families there have reportedly left the area out of fear.

In another case, Muslims of Raiwala, who had been performing Namaz at Prateek Nagar area since 1989, said they were asked by the Naib Tehsildar, Raiwala, to stop the prayers.

Abdul Aziz and Abdul Mazid, both managing the mosque, said they got notices on December 24, 2024, to stop the prayers. In their reply, they informed the SDM, Rishikesh, that Muslims had been holding prayers since 1989 at that place as per their constitutional right. Giving the reference of the Supreme Court judgement in Mohd. Sharif Versus state of UP and others delivered on January 28, 1999, the petitioner stated that stopping them from holding prayers in the mosque violated their fundamental right to pray, but to no avail.

Interestingly, since 2017, there have been a dozen verbal announcements by respective BJP Chief Ministers, including the present incumbent Dhami, of conducting a ‘survey’ of Madarassas.  After conducting such exercises countless times with the help of police and intelligence outfits since 2017, the outcome has not been made public.

The state government has not elaborated the reasons for such a proposed exercise, which has led the Muslim community to believe that the aim is “vilification and targeting” of the minority community.

The writer is a freelancer based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.