Left, secular delegation call upon Uttarakhand DGP to act against unlawful action of Hindu organisations

Left, secular delegation call upon Uttarakhand DGP to act against unlawful action of Hindu organisations
S.M.A.KAZMI
Dehradun , Oct 23
A delegation of left parties and secular bodies met Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar , here today and apprised him about the grave, provocative and unlawful propaganda being unleashed in Uttarakashi to demolish a mosque. The delegation told the DGP that Hindu right wing organisations have called upon people to gather to demolish the mosque at Uttarakshi on October 24, 2024.
The delegation told the Uttarakhand police chief that Hindu right bodies are carrying out their nefarious, provocative, communal and unlawful activities in Uttarakshi despite the fact that the Uttarakashi District Magistrate had announced after proper verification that the mosque in question is completely legal. The Jama Masjid mosque, Uttarkashi is not situated on any government land
DGP Abhinav Kumar called the Superintendent of Police, Uttarakashi in the presence of the delegation and instructed him to deal with such elements firmly. The delegation requested the state police chief to also act against communal elements who had been poisoning the social fabric of the state as the directions given by the Supreme Court of India.
The delegation comprised Indresh Maikhuri, state secretary, CPI (ML), Samar Bhandari, member, national council CPI, Trilochan Bhatt of Insaniyalt Manch, Mussharaf Ali, President, Alapsankhayak Sewa Samiti, Ankit Uchholi, state President, All India Student Association (AISA), Atul Sharma, state general secretary, Samajwadi Party and Rajinder Negi, state secretary, CPM.
Interestingly, Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Negi had clarified that after it was rumoured in the social media that the said mosque was built on government land and demonstrations by Hindu bodies demanding demolition of the mosque, an inquiry by Mukesh Chand Ramola, Additional District Magistrate Bhatwari revealed that the said mosque was not built on any government land. The mosque was constructed by Muslims after duly buying the land in 1969 and the said mosque was also registered with the Wakf Board. However, despite such clarifications, the Hindu organisations continued calling upon people to gather to demolish the mosque.
Earlier in the month of September, 2024, the Hindu bodies had threatened to demolish the mosque by force if the administration fail to remove these structures which they claim are ‘unlawful’. The Hindu organisations gave an ultimatum of three days to the Uttarkashi district administration to demolish the mosque at Masjid Mohalla, otherwise they threatened publicly that they would themselves would destroy it.
A public demonstration was held in front of the office of the Uttarkashi District Magistrate on September 6, where provocative anti-Muslim slogans were raised to demand closure of meat shops and demolition of the mosque and the adjacent Masjid Mohalla where some muslim families reside.
A memorandum was submitted by Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Rakshak Sangh, Uttarakashi to Uttarkashi District Magistrate on September 9 claiming that the mosque should be demolished as it was not registered in the district administration records.
Meanwhile, Halim Baig, advocate, a native Garhwali Muslim who also fought and won the Purola ‘Love Jehad’ case refuting the claims of the Hindutva organisations said that the mosque in question was built after lawful purchase of land by community elders including his father in the 1969 and a mutation of the same as a mosque was done in revenue records. “ The Muslims met the police and civil officials and apprised them about the facts and attempts by some Hindu organisations to vitiate the peaceful social harmony of Uttarakashi, ” said Halim Baig.
In September, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police had taken a tough stand and warned against any unlawful action in Uttarkashi which prevented any unsavoury incident. But again, Hindu bodies started mobilising people against the mosque.