Congress again misses an opportunity to take on BJP/RSS by keeping silent as Kotdwar incident manifested public sentiment against injustice

Congress again misses an opportunity to take on BJP/RSS by keeping silent as Kotdwar incident manifested public sentiment against injustice

S.M.A. KAZMI

Dehradun, Feb 2

The main opposition Congress which claims to take on the ruling BJP/RSS juggernaut has completely failed to stand with the Muslim community in the hill states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh in the relentless onslaught on them by the Hindutva forces in these two Hindu upper castes dominated hill states.

The Uttarakhand Congress which has high stakes in the coming state assembly elections scheduled in next eleven months has decided to simply ignore the attack on Muslim minority community in the mortal fear of antagonising the majority Hindu votes. The party again lost a golden opportunity to redeem itself and rally behind the public sentiments which were articulated by ‘Mohammed Deepak’ of Kotdwar in saving an old Muslim shopkeeper from Hindutva hordes on January 26, 2026. While, Deepak Kumar Kashyap showed tremendous moral courage to stand up against a Hindutva mob and faced abuse and threats alone, the Uttarakhand Congress the main opposition was missing in action. It was a lone Congress leader Suryakant Dhasmana who took up cudgels by ringing up Uttarakhand Chief Secretary to provide security to ‘Mohammed Deepak’ in the wake of hundreds of Bajrang Dal workers in a mob threatening him in the presence of police.

Interestingly, the senior state Congress leaders held a brain storming meeting with their leader Rahul Gandhi last week to chalk out strategies for the coming assembly polls but decided to look the other way when an opportunity was provided by an individual to stand with justice and expose the communal, divisive and highhanded approach of the ruling BJP/ RSS dispensation. None of the senior leaders including the senior most former Chief Minister Harish Rawat who had represented Haridwar Lok Sabha seat having a sizeable Muslim population spoke a word. Rather his photographs receiving a bag of rice from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was seen in the media.

The party failed to gauge the public sentiments against the highhanded of the ruling BJP ‘Sangh Parivar’ affiliates in harassing and targeting innocent, poor Muslims. The public sentiments were articulated by brave “Mohammed Deepak’ who despite being a Hindu himself told Hindutva mob that his name was ‘Mohammed Deepak’ and saved an old Muslim shopkeeper. He became an instant hero within and outside India on the social media getting praise cutting across communities. But, the Uttarakhand Congress failed to gauge the public sentiments as most of their senior leaders have reconciled to their mental defeat at the hands of BJP/RSS. While, the Muslims are facing relentless targeted strategic attacks from BJP/RSS in the name of ‘Love Jehad’, ‘Land Jehad’, ‘Mazar Jehad’, Thook Jehad’, ‘Madrassa Jehad’ and ‘Nakal Jehad’ with an aim to demonise them and create a fear psychosis amongst majority Hindu population, the Congress party has done nothing at all to counter that.

The Congress also decided to look the other way when the BJP government passed the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).   the Congress protest interestingly mainly revolved round live-in relationships and completely ignored the minority Muslim objections regarding alleged trampling of their religious rights guaranteed under the Constitution under UCC. No state Congress leader was willing to commit anything on the concerned raised by the minority community. Privately, the party leaders admit that state leadership has been scared of raising any issue which concerned Muslims fearing backlash from the upper caste Hindu population which form majority in Uttarakhand.

Uttarakhand has nearly 15 per cent Muslim population  mostly residing in the Terai districts of Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital and Udham Singh Nagar districts which are politically significant.

But despite getting substantial Muslim votes since the formation of the new state of Uttarakhand in 2000 in every elections, the Congress party which has ruled the state twice from 2002 till 2007 and from 2012 till 2017 has never done anything or stood up for the minority community when the ‘Hindutva’ forces started targeting Muslims in an aggressive manner post 2014.  There are two Congress Muslim legislators namely Furqan Ahmed from Piran Kaliyar and Qazi Nizammuddin from Mangalore, both from Haridwar district but apart from highlighting the issues of their respective constituencies ,they have never stood up for the entire Muslim community lest they be labelled as communal.

Interestingly, the Congress except two bye-elections of Mangalore and Badrinath in 2024, have yet to score a victory against BJP. They have lost all five seats in the 2014, 2019, 2024 Lok Sabha elections to BJP and thoroughly lost 2017 and 2022 state assembly polls to BJP. The ruling BJP/RSS had been using the aggressive Hindutva and Muslim bashing as its strategy which are politically paying in the absence of any counter from the main opposition.

But when it comes to polling in the elections, the Congress party has been getting majority of Muslim votes since the formation of Uttarakhand state. The Haridwar Lok Sabha seat which Harish Rawat represented and in 2024 his son was a candidate had 30 per cent Muslim votes which was majorly cast in their favour. Similarly, Muslim vote percentage  in Nainital-Udham Singh Nagra Lok Sabha seat is 20 per cent while in Tehri Garhwal seat it is 7 per cent. During the 2024 Lok Sabha poll it was estimated that Muslims voted overwhelmingly for the Congress. Harish Rawat who has benefitted from Muslim votes has yet to utter a word against targeting of Muslims in the hills of Uttarakhand while his daughter Anumpa rawat is a Congress legislator from Haridwar getting substantial Muslim votes.

The Uttarakhand Congress leaders have taken the Muslim votes for granted since they believe that the community has no alternative but to vote for them. In the initial year after the formation of Uttarakhand Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had presence in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts amongst Muslims but later they got disillusioned with the party since Congress and the BJP were the two dominant parties sharing power between them till 2017. However, with the advent of aggressive Hindutva politics, Congress has been marginalised in an upper Hindu caste majority state of Uttarakhand.

The Congress leaders of Uttarakhand perhaps do not understand that by ignoring the core ideology of Congress party of taking every one along particularly Dalits, downtrodden and Muslims, they would be further marginalised while BJP/RSS sticking to aggressively working on their philosophy of Hindutva combined with hate against minorities has gained politically.

There are Congress leaders also who had been helping their Muslim supporters of their respective areas like Sumit Hariydesh of Haldwani who helped the community members in fighting the railway land encroachment case of Banphoolpura in the Supreme Court and Suryakant Dhasmana, senior Vice-president of party in Dehradun who had stood in thick and thin of his supporters irrespective of religious affiliations. But collectively Uttarakhand party has always deserted their Muslim voters.

It seems that the Muslims of Uttarakhand have to fend for themselves in the absence of any political support and are looking for other political outfits like All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul MuslimeenOf Assaduddin Owaisi to fight for their own  survival in the wake of continuous relentless economic, social, religious and political onslaught by ruling BJP/ ‘Sangh Parivar’.

In neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, the state Congress government has also miserably failed to safeguard the interests of minuscule Muslim population and Kashmiri shawl traders against targeting campaign by Hindutva groups owing allegiance to BJP/RSS. Interestingly, the Congress ministers were seen openly siding with Hindutva mobs against Muslim minority members.

There had been a dozen cases of harassment and assault on Kashmiri shawl sellers and pressure mounted to demolish alleged illegal floors of Sanjuali  mosque near Shimla.

The Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) on Sunday expressed deep concern after a fresh and disturbing case of alleged harassment and assault involving a Kashmiri shawl seller reported from Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh, just days after two Kashmiri shawl seller brothers were brutally assaulted in Uttarakhand.

National Convenor of the Association, Nasir Khuehami, said that a Kashmiri shawl seller, Mohd Ramzan, was allegedly harassed, intimidated, and later assaulted in Kangra district by a right-wing activist identified as Surjeet Rajput Guleria. He added that the same individual is reportedly involved in at least three similar incidents targeting Kashmiri shawl sellers last month as well.

Khuehami stated that despite repeatedly asserting that he is an Indian citizen, Mohd Ramzan was allegedly forced to “prove” his identity, threatened, and issued an ultimatum to leave the state. His shawl bundles were reportedly checked, and he was mockingly accused of carrying an AK-47 instead of Kashmiri shawls; an act the association described as humiliating, dangerously communal, unlawful, and inciteful.

He further said that Kashmiri traders in the area have been systematically intimidated, threatened, and prevented from selling their shawls, with warnings issued to vacate the region. Calling it the fourth such incident in Himachal Pradesh this year, JKSA noted that this was not an isolated episode but part of a recurring and deeply troubling pattern. Over the past year, multiple cases of harassment and intimidation against Kashmiri shawl sellers have been reported in Himachal. However, in most instances, either no FIR was registered or complaints were diluted. Despite several reported incidents, only a single FIR has been lodged so far, highlighting a disturbing culture of impunity.

The association said it was deeply ironic and alarming that such incidents continue unabated in states governed by parties that otherwise claim to uphold constitutional values, pluralism, and minority protection. “The silence and lack of outrage in INDIA-bloc-ruled states is conspicuous. Selective condemnation and selective protection undermine the very idea of justice and equal citizenship,” it said. “For decades, Kashmiri shawl sellers have contributed significantly to the local economy of Himachal Pradesh and have become an integral part of its social and cultural fabric. Today, however, they are being pushed into fear and insecurity solely because of their identity,” the association said.

Association strongly criticised the Himachal Pradesh government and slammed Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu for his inaction and failure to act decisively despite repeated incidents and warnings. “The absence of swift arrests, preventive measures, and clear political messaging has emboldened fringe elements and sent a dangerous signal that harassment of Kashmiri traders can continue without consequences,” it added.