Amid communal tensions flaring up in Uttarakhand, a group of over 200 social justice organisations and NGOs on Wednesday wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, condemning the role of the government in the “hate-filled” campaign under way in the State and seeking immediate action to protect lives and properties.
The State has been seeing communal tensions for the last few weeks, as the State government continues its drive of evicting illegal encroachers, which activists have said disproportionately affects Muslim neighbourhoods. Amid this, the alleged abduction of a minor girl in Purola district, for which a Hindu man and a Muslim man have been arrested, has also led to tensions rising.
The Hindu had earlier this week reported how Muslim shop owners and residents in Uttarkashi were being threatened to keep their shops closed and a Hindu ‘mahapanchayat’ is scheduled to take place on June 15. Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, a right-wing group, which has been at the centre of calls for boycott of Muslim-owned shops, has called for the ‘mahapanchayat’.
