Orchestrated campaign against Muslims in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand

There seems to be an orchestrated campaign against Muslim minority community in the hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh by the right wing Hindu organisations as demands to demolish their mosques are being raised in the past fortnight.

There were vociferous protests by right wing Hindu groups owing affiliation to BJP/RSS at Shimla in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand to demand removal of two mosques at these places. While, the Himachal Pradesh Wakf board has said that the mosque at Sanjauli near Shimla is built on Wakf land, the Muslims of Uttarkashi claim that the mosque was built after lawful sale of land by local Muslim community in the 1960’s. Himachal Pradesh police had to resort to lathi charge and use of water cannons to disperse a large mob which was going to attack the mosque at Sanjauli, Shimla today.

In Uttarkashi also, the Hindu bodies have threaten to demolish these mosque by force if the administration fails to remove these structures which they claim are ‘unlawful’. The Hindu organisations gave an ultimatum of three days to the Uttarkashi district administration to demolish the mosque at Masjid Mohalla, otherwise they threatened publicly that they would themselves would destroy it.

A public demonstration was held in front of the office of the Uttarkashi District Magistrate on September 6, where provocative anti-Muslim slogans were raised to demand closure of meat shops and demolition of the mosque and the adjacent Masjid Mohalla where some Muslim families reside.

A delegation of Hindu organisations submitting a memorandum seeking demolition of Uttarkashi mosque and closure of meat shops to District Magistrate.

A memorandum was submitted by Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Rakshak Sangh, Uttarakashi, to Uttarkashi District Magistrate on September 9 claiming that the mosque should be demolished as it was not registered in the district administration records.

Meanwhile, advocate Halim Baig, a native Garhwali Muslim who also fought and won the Purola ‘Love Jehad’ case, refuted the claims of the Hindutva organisations saying that the mosque in question was built after lawful purchase of land by community elders including his father in the 1960’s and a mutation of the same as a mosque was done in revenue records. “We would be going to meet the District Magistrate and Superintendent of Police today to apprise them of the facts and attempts by some Hindu organisations to vitiate the peaceful social harmony of Uttarakashi. We are seeking security for the Muslim community since open threats and hate speeches were delivered publicly to incite the majority community. We would seek help, security and justice,” said Halim Baig.

The Uttarkashi incidents comes close on the heels of communal tension following looting of shops owned by Muslims at Nandghat in Chamoli district by alleged members of various rightwing Hindu organisations on September 1, 2024 on the charges of eve-teasing against a Muslim youth who was running a barber shop at Nandaghat in Chamoli district. More than seven shops owned by Muslims, some of them residing in the area for the past several decades, were looted and ransacked by a mob. A similar mob also ransacked shops owned by Muslims at district headquarter town of Gopeshwar. Three mosques of the area were also sacked. Earlier, nearly a dozen Muslims who had been running their shops at Chauras area of Kirtinagar block of Tehri Garhwal district for the past three decades were forced to flee on the flimsy charges of ‘Love Jehad’.

Public boards were put up at several villages banning the entry of non-Hindus/ Rohingya Muslims in Rudraprayag and Chamoli district. Later, on the reported advise of the police, the words non-Hindu/ rohingya Muslism were dropped but ‘outsiders’ were warned against entering hill villages. Interestingly, how the police and administration could allow such unlawful boards where ‘outsiders’ who are supposedly Indian citizens are disallowed.

The memorandum submitted by Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Rakshak Sangh, Uttarakashi to Uttarkashi District Magistrate on September 9.

Two delegations of Muslims one led by Dr. Nayyer Kazmi, Uttarakhand state unit President of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and another of Muslim Sewa Sangathan led by Maulana Ahmed Qasmi, ‘Shahr Qazi’ of Dehradun met Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar to draw his attention towards these communal incidents and targeting of minority community.

In Dehradun, there was also heightened communal tension in the main Paltan Bazaar on September 9, following allegations against a shop worker for alleged sexual assault on a girl. The shop worker namely Umer, a Muslim has been arrested by the police under section 74 (assault or use of criminal force on woman with an intent to outrage her modesty) and s.75 (sexual harassment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

However, the accused was beaten up by a group of alleged Bajrang Dal activists on the complaint of a girl customer before handing him over to the police. The Muslim shopkeepers protested against the highhandedness of the Bajrang dal workers while their supporters also downed shutters leading to communal tension for many hours. Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh had to intervene personally to pacify both the groups and bring back normalcy in the market. A verification drive for the vendors in Paltan Bazar was launched in which 92 suspicious persons were rounded up on September 10.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.