Delhi University professor Apoorvanand Jha and poet Ashok Vajpeyi on June 13 filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding an immediate ban on proposed mahapanchayat by right-wing groups at Uttarkashi in Uttarakhand on June 15. Terming it an attempt to incite communal riots, the petitioners have asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the matter.
After a series of hate speeches made in Dharam Sansad organised in Haridwar in 2021, the Supreme Court, in 2022, asked the State to “take corrective measures” against peddling of communal hate during events involving religious groups.
Also Read | Waqf Board appeals to CM Dhami to ensure safety of Muslims
“If the mahapanchayat is allowed to happen, it could lead to a boil in communal tensions in the State,” the petitioners said, adding that an urgent judicial intervention is required “to protect the life, limb, and property” of those under attack and against whom the mahapanchayat has been scheduled to be held.
The petitioners have also urged the top court to issue directions to the State Government to take necessary steps to protect the lives of those under threat and provide adequate compensation to those who have been forced to leave their shops and homes.
“It is respectfully submitted that such events are an anathema to the rule of law and cannot be countenanced in a parliamentary democracy. They threaten the very secular fabric which binds the country together,” the petition stated.
Section 144 to be imposed
Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand police are planning to impose Section 144 of CrPC in the town to prevent any gathering during the mahapanchayat.
Superintendent of Police (SP), Uttarkashi, Arpan Yaduvanshi said the police have been checking videos being circulated on social media and interrogating the locals to identify those behind the recent ruckus at Purola and other parts of the district. “No one has been arrested so far for the hooliganism in the town,” he added.
Talking to The Hindu, Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan founder, Darshan Bharti said he would change the venue of the mahapanchayat if Section 144 is imposed in Uttarkashi and confirmed the event would happen.
Also Read | Background checks will curb ‘love jihad’, says Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami
“The IG, Garhwal has asked me for a meeting today. I will tell him that I will not back out from organising the mahapanchayat as it is not being organised against any particular community but against people within that community who are luring our daughters in the name of ‘love jihad’ and snatching our land in the name of ‘land jihad’,” he added.
Mr. Bharti, via social media, has circulated an invite for the mahapanchayat, in which he appeals to the Hindus to gather in large numbers in Uttarkashi, on June 15.
“Bahen, Betio, Purvajo ki Mahan Sanatan Darohar ki raksha k liye... 15 June ki mahapanchayat me pauchje [To protect our sisters, daughters and the great eternal heritage of the ancestors, come for the mahapanchayat of June 15],” the invite reads.
Tensions have prevailed in Uttarkashi since last month after a minor girl was allegedly abducted by two youths, a Hindu and a Muslim. The two accused were caught by the locals and FIR was lodged against them. After this incident, various right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and Bhairav Sena started protests against the minority community. Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, a right-wing group, announced the mahapanchayat on June 15 and has allegedly pasted posters across the city asking Muslims to leave the town. Several Muslim families were hence forced to leave the town over security fears.
Even as the right-wing group is gearing up for the mahapanchayat, the office-bearers of the Muslim Seva Santhan (MSS) has called a mahapanchayat in the State capital, Dehradun, on June 18. The aim of the mahapanchayat is to draw the State Government’s attention to the administration’s failure in Uttarkashi and the “exodus” of Muslims from the hill town, the MSS said.
‘Police should immediately register FIRs’
Meanwhile, the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Justice of India and the Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court to immediately intervene in the escalating communal tension in the State by directing the Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police to personally ensure that the mahapanchayat on June 15 and the rally and chakka jam programme in Tehri planned for June 20 are denied permissions. It pointed out the “harm caused by the continuing hate campaigns to the constitutional fabric of the State”.
Among other requests, the PUCL urged the courts that the Chief Secretary and DGP, Uttarakhand should be held accountable for the dereliction of their constitutional duty to protect all citizens and ensure law and order in the State and the police should immediately register FIRs under the relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 against Swami Prabodhanand Giri Mahamandaleshwar, Swami Darshan Bharti, Rakesh Uttarakhandi and Prakash Kumar Dabral, amongst others who were threatening the right to life, livelihood, and residence of the Muslim population in the State.
Also, a group of former civil servants of the All India and Central Services on Tuesday wrote to the Chief Secretary and expressed deep concern at the developing situation in Uttarakhand, particularly in Uttarkashi and Tehri Garhwal districts.
“We call upon you to ensure that no such criminal, communal, or intimidatory programme is permitted to take place on these dates or otherwise and that the State police and administration function as per the Constitution, the law, and the multiple directions of the Supreme Court to act against hate speech and mob violence,” the letter said.
The group of former bureaucrats also noted that this “intimidation campaign” is being justified on the grounds of so-called ‘love jihad’ and that the Chief Minister of the State has been repeatedly making public statements claiming that ‘land jihad’ and ‘love jihad’ will not be tolerated in the State, notwithstanding that it is against both the law and our Constitution to target entire communities on the basis of supposed wrongdoing by individuals.
