Dehradun: Violence that rocked Haldwani over an anti-encroachment drive to demolish an 'illegal' madrasa has caused immense damage to life and property as well as tarnished the image of Uttarakhand, which is known as a peaceful state.
Prior to this, there were a few incidents that brought the state to limelight for wrong reasons. In June 2023, Purola hit the headlines following an alleged "love jihad" case involving a youth from a minority community who was caught allegedly trying to elope with a Hindu girl. Following the incident several families of the community were forced to leave the town.
During the erstwhile Trivendra Rawat government, the shop of a person who made objectionable post on Kedarnath was vandalised in Pauri. The area had become tense after the incident.
In August 2017, tension ensued in Satpauli of Pauri district after a man was arrested for allegedly having sex with a cow. Shops were vandalised and Satpauli police station was gheraoed. Later, a huge police force had to be deployed here to control the situation.
A few months prior to this, clashes ensued between communities after a Muslim man was arrested for allegedly molesting a minor in Kotdwar. There was also an incident of unrest after efforts were made to remove encroachments of minorities from railway land in Haldwani.
About 82 percent Hindus and 14 percent Muslims live in the state but barring a few stray incidents of communal tension, Uttarakhand does not have any past history of intense religious clashes. However, now the circumstances are changing.
Senior journalist Neeraj Kohli said that earlier such incidents were never heard on a large scale in Uttarakhand, but now minor incidents trigger panic and unrest. It is due to such incidents that Uttarakhand is losing its image of a peaceful state, he said.
Uttarakhand has a rich in cultural heritage with people of all religions and castes living together carrying forward their culture. On one hand, Chardham is a centre of faith of Hindus across the world, on the other hand, Hemkund Sahib has been the center of emotions of Sikhs while Piran Kaliyar in Roorkee attracts Muslims from all over the globe.
Congress has termed the decisions taken by the BJP-led government responsible for deteriorating state's image. Congress state vice president Mathura Dutt Joshi said many times words flare up communal sentiments.
Dismissing the allegation, senior BJP MLA Vinod Chamoli said that BJP never does politics on religious sentiments. "Whatever steps have been taken by the government, from conversion to encroachment, have been done keeping the law in mind. People who do politics in these matters are responsible for the situation that is being created," he said.
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