Hate Campaign Against Muslims Under The Guise Of Love Jihad

By Ravinder Patwal Translated into English by Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam 16 June 2023 Purola Village, located in the Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, is around 385 km from Delhi. This village was a little way from the Yamunotri road, which has now developed into a town as a result of constant migration from the villages. The population of the village, which was around 2,500 in 2011, is now estimated to be 4,000. In addition, Purola is home to about 40 Muslim families. These people have lived there for the past 50 years, and some of them manage a clothing store. In its report, the Hindi newspaper Janchowk provided in-depth information about the episode of communal tension in Purola on June 10, citing veteran journalist Trilochan Bhatt for specific information. Here, we'll look into the circumstances that have led to the current state of affairs, where families from the minority community are being compelled to leave Purola. The fact that a 14-year-old Hindu girl fell in love with a Hindu boy and not a Muslim boy is something that the entire media is continually suppressing. Two Muslim boys are accused of attempting to abduct a 14-year-old Hindu girl on May 26, however, the locals raised suspicions, and the girl was freed. Nevertheless, Saini, one of the two boys, is a Hindu. According to journalist Trilochan Bhatt, "Both Ubaid Khan and Jitendra Saini are originally from Bijnor, and their shops are across from one another. They were close friends, and Saini was in a relationship with the girl. As friends do, Ubaid participated in his friend's love relationships. It is false to say that they were apprehended in Barkot outside of Purola. This narrative has been made up because they were observed strolling together in Purola.” Both the boys are still being held in detention under the POCSO Act. However, the issue has gained traction throughout all of Uttarakhand. Even Al-Jazeera has written about this incident. Giving the situation the Love Jihad angle, and describing it as the biggest threat to Uttarakhand Devbhoomi, protests and rallies against Muslims, threats for them to leave the area until June 15, and resounding cries from Hindutva organisations and self-declared religious leaders to expel every “Jihadi” from Uttarakhand are all taking place at the same time. Its effects have also been noticed. Numerous Muslim families have moved away from Purola. Despite the fact that some families have stayed, their shops have been shut for longer than 15 days. The May 30 edition of Navbharat Times included the headline, "Uttarakashi: Streets rage against love jihad, 42 Muslim traders flee overnight in Purola." Additionally, it has been stated in this news that the locals of the entire area are extremely incensed about this and have left their homes with drums to demonstrate in Purola. Despite the fact that the Hindu suspect Jitendra Saini was named in this report by the Navbharat Times journalists Rashmi Khatri/Raghvendra Shukla, it has been reported that both the boys sought to kidnap the young girl and take her to Vikas Nagar. Overall, there has been an effort made in the news to demonstrate how furious people are with Muslims by tearing down business signs and issuing expulsion notices for them from Purola. Since the publication of government advertisements is presently the first prerequisite for Hindi newspapers, each Hindi newspaper should essentially include the same news. On the other hand, the only news that reflects the preferences of the majority of the population can somewhat guarantee the sales of a newspaper. Hindu organisations held protests in Purola on May 29 after May 27 and issued threats to Muslims to leave the area. By then, numerous families had already left Purola. The Muslim shopkeepers who were left here have been residing and operating their businesses for a very long period. It is also asserted that because of their politeness and reasonable prices, the residents of the nearby villages favoured shopping at Muslim stores. In such a circumstance, it cannot be ruled out that certain Hindu retailers are to blame for the warning to show Muslim businesspeople the exit from Purola. In this regard, Muslim businessmen requested security from the police administration but were turned down. In a statement, Purola Vyapar Mandal President Brij Mohan Chauhan said that he had urged Muslim business owners to open their shops. Additionally, he added that if not right away, things will get better in a week, at which point they could open their stores. “There hasn't been any pressure from our end to keep the stores shut”, he said. However at the same time, since Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal have now stepped forth in an open manner, the situation has grown much more dangerous. Muslim shops are closed, and posters telling Muslims to leave Purola by June 15 have been plastered on them. The news of a Mahapanchayat being held in the area has greatly heightened communal tension. The Muslim community, on the other hand, is reporting that its Mahapanchayat will take place in Dehradun. The posters read, "Love ‘Jihadis’ are informed to vacate their shops before the Mahapanchayat to be held on June 15, 2023; if this is not done then it will depend on the time," according to the report from Aaj Tak. As a part of the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan campaign, these posters have been posted in Muslim-owned shops. If the situation had remained confined to Purola, it would have been a matter of some relief. Now, the fire has begun to spread to other parts of Uttarakhand. Its flames have reached Uttarkashi as well as Barkot, Chinyalisaud, and Bhatwari, and here as well Hindutva organisations have organised rallies and demonstrations. What is the reason behind Islamophobia in Uttarakhand? 23 years ago, the state of Uttarakhand was separated from Uttar Pradesh. The region of Uttarakhand was formerly regarded as a hill region. However, the plains of UP joined it at the time of partition along with Dehradun, Haridwar, and Udham Singh Nagar. A very tiny percentage of Muslims lived in the steep regions. 250 years ago, a Mughal family had reached Tehri Riyasat in the Garhwal region as a refugee, and more Muslim families had joined them. The Mughal family later had to depart, but the families that travelled with them liked Uttarakhand and stayed there. Similarly, some people must have also travelled to Almora and Nainital. However, this number is significant in the plains, which is why the BJP-RSS's attempt to use the Muslim minority as a vehicle for communal overtones in Uttarakhand politics succeeds in contrast to how it fails in Himachal Pradesh. This explains why it occurred in the case of Uttarakhand this time, while on the other side, the BJP had to accept defeat in the assembly elections in Himachal. Due to an influx of jobs for state-work, the first 10-15 years in the new state went by without incident, but in the last 8–10 years, things have gotten steadily worse. The bureaucracy, new state, and new leaders are all out-of-date. Now, the concern is to fit one's relatives rather than for oneself. The only other sources of income are government contracts, mining, timber, alcohol, and these four industries. Soon after winning the election in the state, the BJP had to deal with the reports of rigging and corruption involving government jobs. A large number of youths from the hilly areas of Uttarakhand were in an upset state. Even after 75 years, army recruitment remains the main support system and source of attraction for young people in the hills. But as of today, the Modi administration only permits four-year terms for jobs. The "Ankita Bhandari murder case" brought the entire state of Uttarakhand to the streets, where people were discussing the son of a BJP leader's deed. Following the creation of Uttarakhand, this agitation was the biggest. The Central Government handed Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami the position of Chief Minister despite the fact that he lost the elections to the residents of his region. A similar situation to Mr. Basavaraj Bommai's struggle in Karnataka to maintain his position as Chief Minister without a foundation exists in Uttarakhand. Bommai, although not having any connections to the RSS, made headlines in Karnataka together with Tipu Sultan, Love Jihad, and the hijab controversy. Additionally, Pushkar Singh Dhami has nothing unique to offer the residents of the state. The Ankita Bhandari scandal, rising unemployment, and inflation had turned 2024 into a nightmare for the BJP. In this context, all of those methods are being used in an effort to divert attention from people's practical problems by sowing the seeds of hostility against other’s religions. There is already a foundation for this. Due to the operation of a religious parliament in Haridwar, the nation recently experienced a case of hate speech against a certain religion. But Uttarakhand differs from all other states in a much more significant way. Uttarakhand has a large proportion of upper-caste people, according to the 2011 census. Kshatriyas make up the majority of the population, with Brahmin Kshatriyas making up 58% of the total. Additionally, Uttarakhand too possesses the deity of Devbhoomi, which the Modi government has nearly imitated by seizing the chance, mirroring the majority population of Uttarakhand. This is the reason why the BJP was able to quickly select and remove three chief ministers in Uttarakhand within the span of a single year, all at the behest of the central government, with no resistance from anyone in the state. It appears that Uttarakhand has also become Gujarat. Violence and discrimination against Dalits have escalated in recent years, however, all incidents have subsided as a result of intermittent protests. While openly hesitating to support the Dalits, a minority community, the main opposition party Congress also seeks their votes. Even under the Hindutva agenda, its lower-level employees have frequently been observed taking part in violence against Muslims and Dalits. The state's upper caste supremacy, whose victim also happens to be the state unit, is the main cause of this. Will Congress publicly challenge in Uttarakhand as it did in Karnataka when Bajrang Dal is openly fanning the flames of racial hatred in Purola? Even though there are still educators, artists, and left-leaning political organisations in Uttarakhand, and even though they have addressed a letter to the government to convey their disapproval over this incident, their voice only reaches themselves. The new millennial generation is now reducing to bravely protect the truth among the common people of Uttarakhand, moving past the symbolism of opposition for opposition's sake. But how long will the unemployed people of Uttarakhand forget the raging fire in their bellies and fall for the false story of Purola, whose sister and daughter are actually another to share 'Ankita Bhandari's' fate in the network of land mafias, mining mafias and thousands of hotels that have sprouted up like mushrooms in the mountains. Only time will be able to answer that. ------ (Ravinder Patwal is a member of the editorial staff at Janchowk.) Urdu Article: Hate Campaign Against Muslims Under The Guise Of Love Jihad اتراکھنڈ: لو جہاد کی جھوٹی کہانی کی آڑ میں مسلمانوں کے خلاف نفرت انگیز مہم Hindi Article: Hate Campaign Against Muslims Under The Guise Of Love Jihad उत्तराखंड: लव जेहाद की झूठी कहानी की आड़ में मुसलमानों के खिलाफ घृणा अभियान URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/hate-campaign-muslims-love-jihad/d/130007 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism