Uttarakhand communal tension: Muslim shopkeepers told to ‘leave before Hindu Mahapanchayat or face consequences’. 10 pts
2 min read 12 Jun 2023, 05:14 PM ISTCouple of days after CM Dhami directed the Uttarakhand Police to take stern action against reported cases of ‘Love Jihad’, posters were put up in front of Muslim shop owners' door warning them to leave their establishments by 15 June, ahead of a scheduled Mahapanchyat called by Hindu organisations.
PremiumUttarakhand burns with rising violence against Muslim residents as increasing number of ‘love jihad’ cases has even the Chief Minister in doldrums. Couple of days after Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the Uttarakhand Police to take stern action against reported cases of ‘Love Jihad’, posters were put up in front of Muslim shop owners' door warning them to leave their establishments by 15 June, ahead of a scheduled Mahapanchyat called by Hindu organisations.
The Muslim Seva Santhan (MSS), an organisation fighting for the rights of Muslims, have called for a “Mahapanchayat" on 18 June. The stance have been taken to protest what leaders have called “increasing targeting" of their community, days after traders belonging to the minority group in Uttarkashi were asked to shut shops and leave the state amid communal tension.
According to Times of India report, the shopkeeper have now been getting ‘intimidation’ calls after they were threatened to evict their establishments.
Uttarakhand communal violence: Ten points
-Nearly half a dozen incidents of attempted abduction of minor Hindu girls by Muslim men who hid their religious identity to befriend them have been reported from Uttarkashi, Chamoli, and Haridwar districts in the past few weeks
-Communal tension triggered when in Uttarkashi’s Purola, two men, one of them a Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl in on 26 May.
-The two accused – Ubed Khan (24), a local shopkeeper, and Jitender Saini (23), a motorcycle mechanic – were arrested on 27 May
-On 29 May, a protest march in Purola turned violent after some of the agitators attacked shops and establishments belonging to the Muslims. A similar protest was held on 3 June, under the banner of Yamuna Ghati Hindu Jagriti Sangathan. Nearly 900 people took part in the stir.
-On 9 June, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami held a meeting with senior police officers here and asked them to take stern action against "love jihad."
-Forty-two shops belonging to Muslims have reportedly been closed in Purola since 26 May, when the failed elopement bid was reported in the town, triggering tension.
-On 12 June, Uttarakhand Waqf Board appealed to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday to dispel the fear among Muslims about their safety in the state in the wake of communal tension in Uttarkashi district.
-Muslim leaders in Uttarakhand's Dehradun have called for a “mahapanchayat" on 18 June, opposing 'increasing targeting" of their community
-Posters were pasted by unidentified people on shops owned by Muslims, asking them to leave the town before a Mahapanchayat called by Hindu organisations in Purola on June 15 or prepare to face consequences
-Many Muslim traders have packed their bags and left Uttarkashi district out of fear. Among them is Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Uttarkashi district minority cell president Mohammad Zahid who ran a garment shop in Purola