Express News Service
DEHRADUN: Even as the organisation of village heads has changed the plans on holding a mahapanchayat in Purola of Uttarkashi district on June 15 after the police took a firm stand, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have come out openly and announced that they will hold a mahapanchayat against ‘love jihad’.
On the other hand, the Muslim community in Dehradun has announced a mahapanchayat on June 18. The administration has not yet taken a call on it yet. Swami Darshan Bharti, the founder of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, a Hindu organisation that first announced the mahapanchayat, was placed under house arrest by police at his Dehradun residence on Wednesday evening when he was about to leave for Purola.
“The movement cannot be crushed by putting me under house arrest like this, the mahapanchayat will be held at all costs,” he said. Meanwhile, a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the Supreme Court expressed its unwillingness to entertain a petition seeking to stop the proposed mahapanchayat.
The court said the petitioners, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, may approach the high court. The case will now be heard in the Nainital High Court on Thursday. “We will hold a mahapanchayat in Purola against ‘love jihad’ at all costs, our aim is clear that we will not tolerate demographic imbalance in the district and the state,” Virendra Rawat, executive district president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Uttarkashi, told this daily.
The district administration has imposed Section 144 in Purola Nagar area till June 19. Sub-divisional magistrate Purola Devanand Sharma said, “Section 144 will be strictly followed and no such activity will be allowed”. V Murugasan, additional director general of police, law and order, told this newspaper, “The border of Uttarkashi has been sealed by the police and people going for the mahapanchayat from outside districts are now being stopped at the border”.
The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) has also been dispatched along with additional forces to ensure that 144 is not violated in any manner. Uttarkashi Bharatiya Janata Party district president Satyendra Rana lamented how the issue of Purola was being portrayed negatively by the national and international media. Speaking to , Rana said, “The statements of national minority leaders smell of communalism, while people from their community are constantly participating in peace meetings with the district administration”.
How the events unfolded
May 26: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by a Muslim and a Hindu in Purola, which the local residents termed as a case of ‘love jihad’
May 27: The accused Ubaid Khan (24) and Jitendra Saini (23) were arrested. Protests by right-wing groups in various areas, however, continued resulting in attacks on shops and houses of several Muslims
May 29: Violence erupted during a protest march in Purola when some participants targeted and vandalised shops and establishments owned by Muslims
June 3: Another protest was organised by the Yamuna Valley Hindu Jagruti Sangathan which was attended by around 900 people
June 5: Posters surfaced in Purola market in Uttarkashi, asking Muslim traders to close their shops and vacate the state by June 15. A total of 23 families migrated from Purola, including a BJP minority-wing leader.
June 13: Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted and demanded that the government ban the mahapanchayat
DEHRADUN: Even as the organisation of village heads has changed the plans on holding a mahapanchayat in Purola of Uttarkashi district on June 15 after the police took a firm stand, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have come out openly and announced that they will hold a mahapanchayat against ‘love jihad’.
On the other hand, the Muslim community in Dehradun has announced a mahapanchayat on June 18. The administration has not yet taken a call on it yet. Swami Darshan Bharti, the founder of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, a Hindu organisation that first announced the mahapanchayat, was placed under house arrest by police at his Dehradun residence on Wednesday evening when he was about to leave for Purola.
“The movement cannot be crushed by putting me under house arrest like this, the mahapanchayat will be held at all costs,” he said. Meanwhile, a vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah in the Supreme Court expressed its unwillingness to entertain a petition seeking to stop the proposed mahapanchayat. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
The court said the petitioners, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, may approach the high court. The case will now be heard in the Nainital High Court on Thursday. “We will hold a mahapanchayat in Purola against ‘love jihad’ at all costs, our aim is clear that we will not tolerate demographic imbalance in the district and the state,” Virendra Rawat, executive district president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Uttarkashi, told this daily.
The district administration has imposed Section 144 in Purola Nagar area till June 19. Sub-divisional magistrate Purola Devanand Sharma said, “Section 144 will be strictly followed and no such activity will be allowed”. V Murugasan, additional director general of police, law and order, told this newspaper, “The border of Uttarkashi has been sealed by the police and people going for the mahapanchayat from outside
districts are now being stopped at the border”.
The Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) has also been dispatched along with additional forces to ensure that 144 is not violated in any manner. Uttarkashi Bharatiya Janata Party district president Satyendra Rana lamented how the issue of Purola was being portrayed negatively by the national and international media. Speaking to , Rana said, “The statements of national minority leaders smell of communalism, while people from their community are constantly participating in peace meetings with the district administration”.
How the events unfolded
May 26: A 14-year-old girl was allegedly abducted by a Muslim and a Hindu in Purola, which the local residents termed as a case of ‘love jihad’
May 27: The accused Ubaid Khan (24) and Jitendra Saini (23) were arrested. Protests by right-wing groups in various areas, however, continued resulting in attacks on shops and houses of several Muslims
May 29: Violence erupted during a protest march in Purola when some participants targeted and vandalised shops and establishments owned by Muslims
June 3: Another protest was organised by the Yamuna Valley Hindu Jagruti Sangathan which was attended by around 900 people
June 5: Posters surfaced in Purola market in Uttarkashi, asking Muslim traders to close their shops and vacate the state by June 15. A total of 23 families migrated from Purola, including a BJP minority-wing leader.
June 13: Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted and demanded that the government ban the mahapanchayat
