Posters warning Muslims to shut shop before June 15 surfaced in Uttarakhand’s Purola town amid tensions after a Muslim man and a Hindu man allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu minor girl.

news News Monday, June 12, 2023 - 16:28
Written by  IANS

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded a ban on a ‘mahapanchayat’ proposed to be held by right-wing groups in Uttarakhand on June 15. Right-wing groups plan to hold the mahapanchayat in Uttarkashi district's Purola on June 15 amid continued communal tension in the area, with Muslim traders being warned to leave Purola town before the mahapanchayat. Owaisi reminded the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand that it is their job to send the culprits to jail and restore peace.

According to reports, tensions started on May 26 after two men, a Muslim and a Hindu, allegedly tried to abduct a 14-year-old girl. Some people alleged that it was a case of 'love jihad', a baseless conspiracy theory propagated by right-wing groups that Muslim men ‘trap’ and marry Hindu women with malafide intentions. In 2019, the Union government told the Lok Sabha no “case of ‘love jihad’ had been reported by any of the central agencies”. Though the accused in the Uttarakhand abduction case were arrested, some right-wing groups staged protests and attacked shops and houses of several Muslims.

Posters threatening Muslim traders to shut shops and leave the state by June 15 had recently surfaced in the Purola market. Due to the tension and threats, Muslims have reportedly shut their shops and some families have migrated from the district. A protest march in Purola on May 29 turned violent after some of the agitators attacked shops and establishments belonging to the Muslims. A similar protest was held on June 3, under the banner of Yamuna Ghati Hindu Jagriti Sangathan. Hundreds of people took part in the protest.

Hyderabad MP Owaisi said in a tweet on Monday, June 12, that the mahapanchayat to be held on June 15 should be banned immediately. "Security should be provided to the people living there. Arrangements should be made to bring back the people who have migrated from there," he said.

Meanwhile, Muslim religious leaders in Uttarakhand have also called for a mahapanchayat of their own on June 18, to protest the targeting of their community. 

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