On Friday, April 7, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated his government’s unsparing stance on illegally constructed mazars on designated forest land that are mushrooming all over the state, including the Jim Corbett National Park, one of the oldest and one of the most famous forested wildlife sanctuaries set amidst the foothills of the Himalayas in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
In a tweet shared by him on April 7, the Uttarakhand CM is seen vowing to do whatever it takes to eliminate the menace of ‘land jihad’ from Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. “It has been observed that 1000s of unauthorised mazars, or mausoleums, have been built on forest land in Uttarakhand,” Dhami said, adding that “anti-social elements emerge” from these mazars and that his government will take “strict action” against such structures.
देवभूमि उत्तराखंड में करेंगे अवैध मजारों को ध्वस्त।
— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) April 7, 2023
ये नया उत्तराखण्ड है यहां अतिक्रमण करना तो दूर इसके बारे में अब कोई सोचे भी ना।@narendramodi@JPNadda@AmitShah @rajnathsingh@dushyanttgautam@BJP4India pic.twitter.com/jRe6VrD6dP
He said that his government is law-abiding and that no work will be done against law and religion in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. He further said that the state government is not against any religion or any community in particular, however, they would not spare anyone indulging in ‘land jihad’ or ‘mazar jihad.’
Dhami stated unequivocally that the encroachers should, in the next 6 months, remove these illegal structures on their own or be ready to face action from the authorities. All mazars built in Jim Corbett National Park should be removed immediately, or else the government would remove it, he added.
It is a matter of concern that the burgeoning issue of illegal land encroachment is not only pervasive in some places but is slowly enveloping the whole state of Uttarakhand. It is unfortunate that the issue of ‘land jihad’ in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, which has been prevalent for quite some time, and OpIndia has been extensively reporting since 2021, has just recently gained mainstream media attention.
Aaj Tak, Friday, published a report on the impending issue of land jihad, which OpIndia has been extensively reporting since 2021. We, in our reports, highlighted how in just 2 years, almost 400 new madarsas, mosques and religious institutions mushroomed in the state of Uttarakhand.
In September 2021, we reported a case of land jihad in Uttrakhand near Tehri Dam. We reported about an illegal mosque that was built during the early 2000s at a site in Khand-Khala Koti Colony, which was in close proximity to the dam, and since then, Hindu organizations have tried multiple times to get it removed. Recently, in the first week of September 2021, a group of local Hindus started fresh protests against the mosque and paced up the efforts to get over 150 square meters of land freed from illegal possession.
In May 2022, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami announced action against the mazars mushrooming everywhere in the state calling them encroachments.
In June 2022, our team visited various parts of the state, including Jim Corbett National Park, to delve into this issue further. To our horror, there were several mazars that mushroomed up inside Jim Corbett National Park, one of the oldest and one of the most famous forested wildlife sanctuaries set amidst the foothills of the Himalayas in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
OpIndia also spoke to Swami Darshan Bharti, a veteran saint working against illegal mazars and drug addicts, who raised concerns about this radical problem plaguing the state of Uttarakhand.
Swami Darshan Bharati told OpIndia that the biggest boost to the Muslim population in Uttarakhand came during the Congress government led by ND Tiwari. He stated that it was not the BJP government, but the previous Congress regime that helped illegal Roginyas settle here by preparing their official documents.
He explained, “Earlier, the cumulative number of Muslims in Uttarakhand was roughly 1.5 to 2%. The local Muslims spoke Garhwali and were sensitive to the indigenous culture. When Uttarakhand annexed the district of Haridwar, the entire Muslim population rose to 5 to 6%. Furthermore, when Yogi Adityanath took over the charge in Uttar Pradesh, many Muslims abandoned the state and settled in Uttarakhand. Among the settlers are a number of well-known Muslim leaders and entrepreneurs. Muslims now constitute around 14% of the population of Uttarakhand. Infiltrators from Bangladesh and Rohingyas living in the riverside slums are adding to this population. These illegal infiltrators and Rohingyas have also arranged all the necessary government documents over these years”, said the Hindu saint.
Months after OpIndia brought the demographic imbalance in Uttarakhand to the fore, the state government took cognisance of this impending issue and directed the state authorities to clear forest land of encroachment. The authorities, in turn, launched a major crackdown, rolling bulldozers over illegal mazars which were built by encroachment on the reserved forest land.
In December 2022, the government of Uttarakhand ran bulldozers on some illegally constructed tombs. 15 mazars built in the forests of Dehradun and Pauri districts were demolished. 17 tombs built on the land of the Forest Department were identified, but two tombs were left after the documents were shown during the action.
Once again in March 2023, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government demolished 26 mazars that were illegally constructed on the government’s forest land. The authorities conducted a survey and identified around 1400 religious structures built illegally on government land. As per reports, some of the illegal Mazars did not even contain any human remains.
Now, once again, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has vowed strict action against illegally constructed mazars on government forest land that are remaining in various parts of the state.
