Uttarkashi: Prohibitory orders remain around mosque after protest meeting; Congress slams BJP

A day after right-wing Hindu outfits held a Mahapanchayat here to protest against an alleged "illegally-built" mosque, prohibitory orders around the structure remained in force, even as the opposition Congress accused the BJP of raising "meaningless issues" through the event. The meeting organised by Devbhoomi Vichar Manch was addressed by controversial BJP MLA from Goshamahal in Telangana T Raja Singh who urged Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to take a leaf out of his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath's book and "teach a lesson" to those indulging in 'land jihad' in the state.

The developments come amid simmering tensions over temple-mosque disputes in several states.

Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS were imposed within a 50-metre radius around the mosque on Saturday in view of the Mahapanchayat.



"There is peace in the town. No one will be allowed to take the law into their hands," Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Sarita Dobhal said.

The administration permitted the Mahapanchayat on 15 conditions which included no hate speeches, no provoking of religious sentiments, and maintaining peace and order among others.

The Uttarakhand High Court, hearing a petition on November 27 demanding the safety of the mosque on Bhatwari Road, directed the Uttarkashi district administration to maintain law and order in the town while keeping it informed on the situation.

Uttarakhand Congress senior vice president Mathura Dutt Joshi said the Mahapanchayat was a BJP-sponsored programme to "divert attention" of people from real issues.

"The BJP government has failed to do any development work. So, it is raising such meaningless issues to divert public attention from real issues.

"Unemployment and inflation are at their peak. The BJP government has failed to deliver. These are diversionary tactics of the party," Joshi said.

Bajrang Dal's state convenor Anuj Walia said a memorandum will be submitted to authorities in all districts of the state after 15 days on issues like 'land jihad' and further strategy will be decided.

The term "land jihad" is used by right-wing Hindu outfits to allege that community members were being displaced from their land by migrant Muslims under a calculated strategy.

Swami Darshan Bharti who was among those who gave impetus to the protests against the mosque said some big announcement should have been made in the Mahapanchayat which did not happen.

BJP MLA from Gangotri Suresh Chauhan, who attended the meeting on Sunday, said the Dhami government will continue to take steps to curb 'land jihad' and 'love jihad'.