20, Jun 2023 | CJP Team

On June 16, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) wrote to the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) deeply concerned about the atmosphere of fear and intimidation that has gripped some districts of Uttarakhand, especially Uttarkashi, forcing the Muslim community out of their homes and businesses.

The complaint chronicles the various incidents that led up to and caused the mass exodus in the first place. The exodus was rooted in an excuse. That excuse was an incident of May 27 when in Purola, Uttarkashi one Ubed Khan and Jitendra Kumar Saini were booked for trying to kidnap a minor girl. In response, on May 29 several right wing organisations and local businessmen protested against the Muslims in the area and threatened them to vacate their shops.

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This excuse was exacerbated and taken ahead by the right wing groups demanding that people from a particular community with a criminal mindset should not be allowed to stay in the town anymore. Soon enough this demand started growing to other parts of the district.

Statistically speaking, the population of Muslims in Uttarkashi is about 1%, as per 2011 Census. Such a small population was also forced out of the many towns in the district. Some miscreants struck posters on the closed shops which read as, “Love Jihadion ko soochit kia jata hai ki dinank 15 June 2023 ko hone wali Mahapanchayat hone se poorv apni dukanei khali kar dein, Yadi tumhare dwara aisa nahi jata to vah vakt pe nirbhar karega.” [Love jihadists are informed that they should vacate the shops prior to a Mahapanchayat on June 15. If they don’t, it (consequences) will depend on time]. It was signed off as “Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan”. People also removed the boards from the closed shops and even painted ‘X’ on their closed shutters.

As per a report by Amar Ujala on June 6, nine landlords reported that their Muslim tenants emptied their homes as the local traders’ association had asked the landlords to take “complete responsibility for their activities” on a stamp paper.

The VHP and Bajrang even wrote to Jaunpur Tehsildar saying, “People from the special community time and again in different ways like rag pickers, ice cream sellers, etc visit different villages. Due to this, the daughters, respect, and food of our people is in danger. Due to this, the residents of the area have given 10 days’ time to these people and asked them to leave the entire Jaunpur region.”

The complaint also mentions Radha Semwal Dhoni and her perilous intimidation tactics in the state where she was going about asking men to show their ID cards after finding out their Muslim identity. She has recorded this  video herself and displays on the video, their ID cards, giving out their complete personal information, as also their Aadhar  card numbers and refuses to give their ID documents back, threatening them to call the police and get their documents back. She even threatens the men that she will throw them off the cliff if they lie to her.

All these incidents have been highlighted in the complaint and supporting documents given to the Commission to take stringent and urgent action.

Stressing upon the importance of the Commission’s intervention, the complaint states, “Sirs, these demands go against the spirit of the Preamble which rests on the spirit of the fraternity. These consistent hate speeches attack the dignity of the individuals, threatens not only their livelihood but also their life based on their religious identity i.e. Muslims. It reduces the Muslim citizens to second class citizenship and creates both institutional and popular sentiment to view them as lesser than. As ground situation shows, it does not stop with seeing Muslims as lesser than but goes on to instigate targeted violence against them, their property and a series of their fundamental rights. The violent targeting of a religious group with the intent of removing them from a geography, holds alarming similarities to genocidal tactics. This is not an exaggeration, as the primary leaders of this campaign have also previously been involved in explicit calls for the mass-murder of Muslims, at speeches given at the Haridwar Dharma Sansad of 2022.”

The complaint may be read here:

Image Courtesy: counterview.net

Related:

“Only Hindus allowed”: Hindu man drives Muslims away from Ganga Ghat

Family of Purola minor denies religious motive, says it never was a ‘love jihad case’, Uttarakhand

‘Insaniyat’: brave Hindu landlord defends Muslim shop owners and workers, show of harmony in the midst of division

Paramount duty of the State to ensure that law and order is maintained in all parts: Uttarakhand HC