Communal tensions in Uttarakhand’s Purola, about 400 km north of Delhi, have caused most of the city’s handful of Muslims to flee. A group of self-styled defenders of Hindu interests called a meeting on June 15, which was canceled at the eleventh hourEven the Uttarakhand High Court asked the state government to ensure that law and order is maintained. tension arose from Alleged attempt by a Muslim man For abducting a minor Hindu girl from the town on 26 May. The man and his Hindu friend were arrested, and the incident soon became a new battle cry for organizations promoting the notion of Love Jihad, an alleged Islamic plan to trap Hindu girls in contact in Purola. Muslims became the target of a social boycott, and Hindu landlords were reportedly forced to evict their Muslim tenants. Several such incidents of targeting inter-religious relations have come to the fore in recent months in Uttarakhand. In a bizarre case, an interfaith couple had to call off their marriage even though their families had given consent for their pairing. Individual rights and choices are being trampled upon by goons who claim to protect community interests, a trend that poses a serious threat to the rule of law and social harmony.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has ramped up the hate rhetoric of love jihad in recent months, even as the disturbances continue. He also ordered the demolition of over 600 tomb temples belonging to Muslims on the grounds of encroachment on public or forest land. He has promised strict action against so-called love jihad and a vaguely worded ‘verification drive’ of people to keep the state free of disturbances. Meanwhile, random organizations demanding the cleanup of other religions’ ‘Devbhoomi’ – a reference to Hindu temples in the Himalayan state – are getting tacit or overt support from the ruling party. The demand to oust Muslims from businesses connected with the Chardham pilgrimage circuit is also being heard sympathetically by the administration. Since 2017, Uttarakhand has been in the news for campaigns and hate speech against people from minority communities, which has been noted by both the Supreme Court of India and the High Courts. The state should be fair in enforcing the law. The criminal case of attempted kidnapping in Purola should be investigated expeditiously and no one should be allowed to use it to spread communal politics. Leaders must be fair and impartial, and must be seen as such.