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Uttarakhand police deny nod for mahapanchayat amid tensions
On Tuesday, the Uttarkashi administration denied permission for the mahapanchayat and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the town
Dehradun: The proposed mahapanchayat called by a Hindu right-wing group in Uttarkashi’s Purola town on Thursday will not be allowed, the Uttarakhand Police said on Wednesday, even as the organisers maintained they will hold the event as scheduled.
To maintain law-and-order situation, security was heightened with the police carrying out flag marches across Purola town, where communal tension has been brewing since an alleged abduction attempt on a 14-year-old girl on May 26. Two accused, including a Muslim man, have been arrested in connection with the case.
On Tuesday, the Uttarkashi administration denied permission for the mahapanchayat and imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the town.
“All steps have been taken to ensure peace, law and order in Purola. As Section 144 is in force, no gathering or mahapanchayat will be allowed there. Nobody would be allowed to take the law into their hands,” Uttarakhand director general of police (DGP) Ashok Kumar said.
Following the abduction bid on the minor girl, Hindu right-wing groups took out multiple protest rallies, in which Muslim shops were attacked. The protesters have blamed people from a “particular community” who come from outside for business for rise in such cases. On June 4, posters asking Muslim traders to vacate their shops in Purola before a mahapanchayat on June 15 came up at various places.
“It’s the administration’s prerogative to impose Section 144, but we will hold the mahapanchayat on June 15 as per the wish of the local community. We don’t need permission,” Virendra Singh Rawat, an office-bearer of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Purola unit, said. “Our intention is just to awaken the Hindus who have been at the receiving end of the illegal activities of a particular community.”
Swami Darshan Bharti, founder of the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, which has called the mahapanchayat, said: “Police personnel have been deployed at my house in Dehradun and they are not allowing me to leave for Purola saying my presence there can disturb the peace.”
Bharti has also been named as an accused in the case pertaining to posters asking Muslim traders to vacate the shops in Purola.
Meanwhile, a delegation of Congress leaders led by state party president Karan Mahara met chief secretary SS Sandhu and DGP Ashok Kumar on Wednesday, demanding action against those trying to disturb peace in the town.
The Uttarakhand high court on Thursday will hear a plea to prevent Hindu outfits from holding a mahapanchayat in Purola town. The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights moved the court on Wednesday, hours after the Supreme Court refused to entertain its plea against the mahapanchayat.
