With tension brewing in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi town after a minor girl attempted to elope with a boy from the minority community, the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday said that to check the rising cases of “love jihad” (an expression coined by right wing groups for interfaith relationships), the government will launch background checks for people who recently moved to Uttarakhand. “People will be able to live in Uttarakhand only after verification,” he added.
The CM’s statement came a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) minority morcha chief in Uttarkashi, was forced to leave his home after protests by right-wing groups. Speaking to The Hindu, Mohammed Zahid, the BJP functionary said that when he objected to protests by right wing groups, he was told his garment shop would be burnt down.
A minor girl was allegedly abducted by two youths, one Hindu and the other a Muslim, in Uttarkashi town on May 26. The two accused were caught by locals and an FIR was lodged against them under the POCSO Act following a complaint by the girl’s family. They were sent to jail on the very same day but after the incident, various right-wing organizations, including Bajrang Dal Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bhairav Sena to name a few have started agitations against members of the minority community.
