Will start verification drive to stop those who can disturb peace: CM Dhami

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami made the remark when asked about the demands of seers in Haridwar to prohibit the entry of non-Hindus to Char Dham shrines. The Char Dham shrines include the Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and the annual yatra attracts lakhs of pilgrims.

Updated on: Apr 20, 2022, 02:29:58 IST

By Neeraj Santoshi, Dehradun

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The Uttarakhand government will soon begin a drive to ensure that outsiders capable of fomenting trouble are not allowed to enter, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Tuesday.

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami (PTI)

“Our state should remain peaceful. Our state’s ‘dharma sanskriti’ (religious traditions) should remain protected. The state government will soon begin a verification drive. It will try verifying those who have not been verified properly. No such people should come here because of whom the peace in the state may get disrupted,” Dhami told reporters here.

The chief minister made the remark when asked about the demands of seers in Haridwar to prohibit the entry of non-Hindus to Char Dham shrines. The Char Dham shrines include the Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath and the annual yatra attracts lakhs of pilgrims.

While Dhami did not mention any community or the Char Dham shrines, the Congress said that his remark was a “matter of concern”.

“As far as I know, Muslims and Christians don’t visit Char Dham shrines. I don’t know what he wants to say by making such a statement? What he is saying is really a matter of concern,” senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said.

In a letter to Dhami on April 17, Shankaracharya Parishad, a council of saints, demanded that non-Hindus, particularly Muslims, be prohibited from entering Char Dham shrines. The letters came days after the country witnessed instances of communal violence on Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in several states.

Swami Anand Swarup, head of Shankaracharya Parishad, alleged that non-Hindus were settling down in several holy places of the state on the pretext of employment and trade.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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