Relentless anti-Muslim campaign in holy month of ‘Ramzan’ in Uttarakhand

Relentless anti-Muslim campaign in holy month of ‘Ramzan’ in Uttarakhand

S.M.A.KAZMI

Dehradun, March 4

The relentless anti- Muslim campaign unleashed by the Uttarakhand BJP state government led by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami continued in the holy fasting month of ‘Ramzan’ as administration took action against a dozen ‘Madrassas’  and a mosque in Dehradun district in the past few days.

The agitated Muslim community which is at the receiving end of the ire of state government as well as the Hindutva brigade led by the ‘Sangh Parivar’, staged a protest in front of the office of the Dehradun District Magistrate calling administrative action as draconian, undemocratic and unconstitutional. The protest was led by local unit of the Jammiat-Ulema-E Hind and Muslim Sewa Sangathan. The agitators courted arrest and were later let off by the police from police lines from where they were taken.

On the express instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the state administration started action against ‘Madrassas’ and sealed five of them and giving notices to six others in village Dhakrani and Nawabgarh in Vikasnagar tehsil of Dehradun and in Dehradun city as well. A mosque at Dhakrani has also been sealed off.

A team of local civil administration, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA) and State Madrassa Board led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate Vinod Kumar had been raiding ‘Madrassas’ in Vikasnagar tehsil since March 1, 2025 leading to resentment amongst minority community.

Chief Minister Dhjami had been threatening action against Madrassas which he claimed are running illegally. Vinod Kumar, SDM,Vikasnagar said that action has been taken against those ‘Madrassas’ which are not registered with the state Madrassa Board or built with getting the map passed from competent authorities.

Nayeem Quraishy, President of Muslim Sewa Sangathan said that the action by the administration was unwarranted and without any prior notice. A memorandum addressed to the District Magistrate stated that the administrative action was clear violation of guarantees provided under Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India of professing, propagating and teaching of religious studies.

Nayeem Quraishy further said that the assertion of the administration to seal Madrassas not affiliated with Uttarakhand Madrassa Borad was unlawful. “These ‘Madrassas’ are being run under Societies Registration Act and Trusts and do not require affiliation with a government managed institution. Interestingly, no legal order has been given for such sealing. The civil administration is passing the buck on MDDA and we would start a protest against MDDA tomorrow,” said Nayeem Quraishy.

The recent onslaught on ‘Madrassas’ was not new as since the advent of BJP state government in 2017,  there has been continuous attack on Muslim and their institutions throughout the state. The Chief Minister Dhami has himself spearheaded campaign against so-called ‘Love Jehad’, ‘Land Jehad’, ‘Mazar Jehad’ and ‘Thook Jehad’ since 2021.

The action against Madrassas was preceded by several anti-Muslim threats and rants. Last week, a Hindu Rakshak Dal, a Hindu outfit suddenly announced to publicly recite ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ in front of Dehradun Jama Masjid as they claimed that a two minute ‘Azaan’ ( call to prayers) from tthe mosque was disturbing the general public.  The Hindu mob was stopped by the police from approaching the mosque a case was registered on the complaint of Muslin Sewa Sangathan but none arrested.

Earlier, three weeks ago, on the alleged complaint of eve teasing, members of Hindu Kali Sena publicly threatened Muslim living and doing business in Nathuwala near Doiwala. They smashed the bill boards of the Muslim shopkeepers giving them an ultimatum to leave the area. A case was registered by the police was none has been arrested. Some out of the 30 odd Muslim families out of fear have left the area.

In another case, Muslims of Raiwala who had been performing Namaz at Prateek nagar area since 1989 were asked by the Naib Tehsildar , Raiwala to stop prayers. Abdul  Aziz and  Abdul Mazid, both managing the mosque got notices on December 24, 2024 to stop the prayers. In their reply, they informed the SDM, Rishikesh that Muslims had been holding prayers since 1989 at that place as per their constitutional right. Giving reference of the Supreme Court judgement in Mohd. Sharif Versus state of UP and others delivered on January 28, 1999, the petitioner stated that stopping them from holding prayers in the mosque violate their fundamental right to pray but to no avail.

Interestingly, since 2017 there had been a dozen verball announcements by the respective BJP Chief Ministers including the present incumbent Dhami of conducting ‘Survey’ of ‘Madarassas’ which has become amusing. After conducting such exercises countless times with the help of police and intelligence outfits since 2017, the outcome has not been made public.

The state government has not elaborated the reasons for such an proposed exercise except for vilification and targeting of Muslim minority community.