Thread by @project_polis

📢Ongoing Violence Alert| #Uttarakhand
We are deeply concerned about the ongoing situation in Uttarakhand, where news reports describe explicit calls to drive Muslims out of the state.
Activists on the ground are raising alarm over what they say is approaching ethnic cleansing*

*Ethnic cleansing is “a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas."

*These coercive practices used to remove the civilian population must be seen as part of a continuum of violence where the goal is the destruction of the targeted group.

In the last 2 weeks, up to 10 towns — Purola, Uttarkashi, Mori, Naugaon, Barkot, Chinyalisaur, Dunda, Damta, Netwar and Sankri — have seen strikes/hate rallies calling for Muslims to be denied shops, for extra “verification”, or simply for them to be expelled.

The issue started in Purola, Uttarkashi district, where posters demanding Muslim traders to leave surfaced after claims that a minor Hindu girl was running away with a Muslim and a Hindu youth.
Source
Hindustan Times
hindustantimes.com/india-news/pos…
Times of India
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/…

Based on alleged "#lovejihad" cases, open declarations were made on social media that all Muslims would be driven out of the state. This comes after reports that 42 Muslim families had fled Purola on the 28th.
Source: Reports from Hindustan & other papers on the 30th of May.

While the Police had denied these reports and claimed all shops were open, consistent reporting across the Hindi and English press contradicts these claims.

For instance, as of June 8th, Amar Ujala has reported that Muslim-owned shops remain closed.

Right-wing Hindu groups continue to operate in an environment of absolute impunity.
Except for one instance regarding "unknown persons" for the posters, there have been no reports of action against any threats or calls for Muslims to be expelled.

This is despite Supreme Court orders in 2018 & 2023 directing strict action against hate speech, and an earlier open letter from SC lawyers saying the U'khand govt is in contempt of court.

Recently, a group of over 200 social justice organizations wrote to President Droupadi Murmu, condemning the role of the government in the “hate-filled” campaign underway in the State and seeking immediate action to protect lives and properties.
thehindu.com/news/national/…

How did the situation get this dire?

👉 The state government has been complicit in consistently demonizing the Muslim communities through the manufactured bogies of “Land Jihad” and “Love Jihad.”

👉The actions by right-wing mobs in the state follow directly from the use of this language by the State administration and its policy of labeling Muslim places of worship as “encroachments” en-masse.

However, the Times of India and the Rashtriya Sahara reported on how the Forest Department's data showed that there were far more temples than mazars on so-called forest land in Uttarakhand.
Source:
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/…

In April, the CM of Uttarakhand: Pushkar Singh Dhami @pushkardhami declared that "Land Jihad" would not be tolerated.

This rhetoric follows the common theme of vilification —love jihad, land jihad, forced conversions, and economic boycott of Muslims.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/99…

His administration has claimed to demolish hundreds of mazars, the Sufi shrines built over graves, and issued eviction notices to the forest-dwelling Muslim Van Gujjar community, claiming they have encroached on forest land.
thehindu.com/news/national/…

Some mazars that were demolished predate the existence of the Forest Department itself, and by definition cannot be encroachments.

The situation continues to worsen, with three more incidents of hate speech and violence taking place in the last two weeks (in Imlikheda, Chakrata, and Gauchar) with no action from the administration in sight.

At @project_polis, we will continue monitoring the developments on the ground. We are raising alarm about the systematic strategies of exclusion and violence, with Uttrakhand becoming a laboratory for the forced mass removal, and cleansing of the local Muslim populations.