Boards banning non-Hindus, Rohingya Muslims in Uttarakhand village spark row
Signboards banning the entry of “non-Hindus” and hawkers have been reportedly installed outside several villages in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, prompting the state police to launch a probe, even as Muslim organisations raised concerns over the increasing number of cases targeting the community.
While Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar said he has ordered local police and intelligence units to ascertain reports of such boards being installed in multiple villages, Rudraprayag circle officer Prabodh Kumar Ghildiyal confirmed that they have removed several signboards and were trying to identify the culprits who put them up.
“It came to light that such boards have come up in some villages. We have been removing them. Some have already been removed from a few villages. We are also trying to ascertain the identities of those who have put up these boards,” Ghildiyal said.
A meeting with various gram pradhans (village heads) has also been held to ensure such things do not happen in future, he added.
“It is prohibited for non-Hindus/Rohingya Muslims and hawkers to do business/roam around in the village. If found anywhere in the village, punitive action will be taken,” the text on the signboard installed outside the Nyalsu village, written in Hindi, read. It claimed the directive had come from the gram sabha.
Pramod Singh, pradhan of Nyalsu, said that similar boards have come up in almost all villages in the region, including Shersi, Gaurikund, Triyuginarayan, Sonprayag, Barasu, Jamu, Ariya, Ravigram, and Maikhanda. Singh told HT that the signboard outside his village has been installed by the villagers and not the gram panchayat.
“The boards have been installed to prevent hawkers from entering the villages without a police verification. Most men of our village are dependent on the yatra and therefore they live in Gaurikund and Sonprayag during the yatra. The women are in the houses alone. Many hawkers come to the village without a valid ID and police verification. Those with verification have been regularly visiting the village, they are not stopped. If hawkers commit any crime and flee, they can’t be traced,” he claimed.
Chandni Devi, pradhan of Maikhanda village, also confirmed that a similar board has been installed by villagers outside her village. “We don’t want outsiders to come into our village since there is a threat to our children and women,” she claimed.
Soni Devi, the head of Gaurikund village, initially confirmed but later retracted that such a board had come up outside her village. “It was put up by villagers that non-Hindus will not be allowed in the village. Such boards have not just come up in our gram sabha but in several others too,” she told HT, but later retracted her statement, saying: “No such boards have come up in our village. Since I am away from the village, I confirmed it now.”
Though it was not immediately known when were the signboards put up outside the villages, the issue came to light after two Muslim delegations — from the Muslim Seva Sangathan and AIMIM — called on DGP Kumar on September 5 and conveyed their concerns over rising anti-minority incidents in the Himalayan state.
“It has been found that on petty issues or any alleged criminal or anti-social activity by any Muslim, processions are taken out by right-wing organisations targeting the entire Muslim community in the towns and cities of the hills. Shops belonging to the members of the minority community are ransacked and looted and Muslims threatened to leave the state… there has been planned attempts bordering on ‘Islamophobia’ to harass, humiliate, and threaten Muslims with an evil and unlawful design of the ethnic cleansing in the state,” Naeem Qureshi of the Muslim Seva Sangathan wrote in a memorandum to the top cop.
DGP Kumar said he has ordered the local police to look into reports of such signboards. “We have asked the intelligence and our local unit to look into such reports. If any such thing is found true, we will take appropriate action,” he added.
Uttarakhand has witnessed communal tensions in various parts over the last few years, the latest coming from Nandanagar town in Chamoli district on September 1, when a mob attacked shops and properties belonging to members of the Muslim community. The violence during a protest, seeking the arrest of a Muslim man accused of flashing a 14-year-old girl, continued the next day as well.
The police have arrested the 26-year-old accused and also filed two cases against a large number of unknown people over the violence.
However, at least 10 Muslim families have fled Nandanagar since the violence earlier this month.
“We had to flee the town after we received death threats. After a crowd of hundreds of violent protesters attacked our shops and people from our community, we walked for around 20 kilometres in the middle of night to save our lives. It was raining, and the weather was stormy. But we were desperate to save our lives. We have come to our native place in Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh),” Ahmad Hasan, a BJP minority wing functionary, who has been living in the hill town for three decades, said.
He added that at least 10 Muslim families who have been living in Nandanagar for decades have left the town.
Chamoli superintendent of police Sarvesh Panwar, however, refuted the claim of Muslim families leaving the town.
“Nandanagar is safe. We have deployed additional force to maintain law and order. We have received no reports of Muslim families leaving the town,” the SP added.
In June last year, communal tension erupted in Purola area of Uttarkashi district, with posters threatening Muslim shopkeepers to vacate their shops pasted on shops. The communal tension erupted after two men, including a Muslim, allegedly attempted to abduct a minor girl on May 26. The next day, the two accused — identified as Ubed Khan (24), a local shopkeeper, and Jitender Saini (23), a motorcycle mechanic — were arrested by the police for the alleged crime. In May this year, a court in Uttarkashi acquitted both the accused.