Civil society members urge courts, police to stop Hindutva groups’ conclave in Uttarkashi

Members of the civil society on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court, the Uttarakhand High Court and the police to take cognisance of communal tensions in the state. They expressed concerns that the tensions could escalate due to a conclave in Uttarkashi called by Hindutva groups on June 15.

Uttarakhand has been on the boil since Hindutva groups issued threats to Muslims to leave the state last week. Muslim traders in Uttarkashi town were warned to shut their shops and leave by June 15 following an alleged attempt to kidnap a 14-year-old Hindu girl in the city’s Purola area by two men.

The alleged kidnappers – Ubed Khan (24), a local shopkeeper, and Jitender Saini (23), a motorcycle mechanic – were arrested on May 27, a day after the alleged kidnapping bid.

However, Hindutva groups alleged that the kidnapping was a case of “love jihad” – a debunked conspiracy theory according to which Muslim men lure Hindu women into romantic relationships in order to convert them to Islam.

Posters carrying warnings for Muslims had been put up in the Purola main market area forcing several members of the community to flee the town. Doors of shops owned by Muslims were painted with an “X” to earmark them.

On Tuesday, a group of 52...

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