Stone pelting, lathi charge, violence during ‘Jan Aakrosh’ rally of Hindu groups at Uttarkashi

Stone pelting, lathi charge, violence during ‘Jan Aakrosh’ rally of Hindu groups at Uttarkashi

S.M.A.KAZMI

Dehradun , Oct 24

The police had to resort to lathi charge following violence, stone pelting by members of Hindu right wing organisations leading to injuries to many during their ‘Jan Aakrosh’ rally against a mosque in Uttarkashi town of Uttarakhand, which they claim as illegal and situated on government land. Hindu organisations affiliated to ruling BJP/RSS had given a call to general masses with an aim to demolish an old mosque situated in Bhatwari area of Uttarkashi. On the other hand, Uttarkashi district administration and police had stated that the mosque in question was an old mosque which was not built on any government land and had been legally registered with the Wakf board since 1980’s. However, the Hindu right wing bodies having tacit support of the ruling party did not pay any heed to the clarifications by the Uttarkashi district administration and gathered hundreds of people in the town today.

Uttarkashi police and administration had made elaborate security arrangements by erecting barricades on the road towards the mosque and deployed a heavy police force. The speakers at the rally led by Swami Darshan Bharati spewed venom against the Muslims and opened challenged the administration and reiterated their resolve to demolish the mosque stating that it was illegal.

Swami Darshan Bharati is a known hate monger having several pending hate speech cases against him including one at infamous Haridwar ‘Dharam Sansad’. While, the participants of the rally sat for hours on dharna as police did not allow them to proceed towards the mosque. The district administration officials made several attempts to talk to the protestors and again look into their demands but the crowd became restless and tried to break the barricade leading to lathi charge by the police. This was followed by stone pelting by protestors. The entire Uttarkashi market was closed due to the rally and Char Dham pilgrimage traffic was diverted from alternate routes.

Swami Darshan Bharati was amongst those injured in stone pelting and lathi charge and was admitted to hospital along with injured police personnel. The police also carried out a flag march in the town. Uttarkashi District Magistrate and SP were also present at the spot to control the situation.