On Thursday, February 8, an incident of stone pelting and arson was reported in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani area. According to reports, the mob attacked authorities who went there to demolish a madarsa built on illegally encroached govt land near the Banbhulpura police station under the ongoing drive against illegal encroachments.
The irate mob reportedly pelted stones at the policemen and Haldwani Municipal Corporation workers present there. Later, they surrounded the police station and went on to set fire to the vehicles stationed outside the Banbhulpura police station.
The mob also set a transformer on fire, resulting in a power outage in the area. Several journalists and administration officials were trapped inside the police station as a mob surrounded the Banbhulpura police station.
A few policemen, Municipal corporation workers including SDM were reportedly injured in the incident.
The police used tear gas to disperse the crowd and prevent the situation from escalating.
Videos of the violent clash surfaced on X (formerly known as Twitter) showing how the frenzied mob indulged in arson and stone pelting leaving several police officers injured and police vehicles gutted in fire.
BIG BREAKING: Muslim mob attacked police and journalists, pelting stones and setting vehicles outside the police station on fire, in response to the Administration's attempt to demolish an illegal Madrasa.
— Treeni (@_treeni) February 8, 2024
Several cops, journalists injured.
📍Banbhoolpura, Haldwani, Uttarakhand pic.twitter.com/4nHChEMT6T
Stones were pelted at the administration and police team that went to demolish the Madrasa in Banbhoolpura, #Haldwani. Many police personnel and journalists injured, also miscreants set vehicles parked outside the police station on fire. pic.twitter.com/iHP5xnRFnI
— Nikhil Choudhary (@NikhilCh_) February 8, 2024
Presently, an additional police force has been deployed in the area and senior officials of police and administration have reached the spot.
According to news agency ANI, DM Nainital has imposed a curfew in Banbhulpura and ordered a shoot-on-sight order for rioters.
#WATCH | Uttarakhand | Violence broke out in Banbhoolpura, Haldwani following an anti-encroachment drive today. DM Nainital has imposed curfew in Banbhoolpura and ordered a shoot-on-sight order for rioters. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/Qykla7UO65
— ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2024
The incident occurred when the Municipal Corporation team, led by Municipal Commissioner Pankaj Upadhyay, City Magistrate Richa Singh, and SDM Paritosh Verma, utilized heavy machinery, including a JCB machine, to raze the illegal structure located in Malik’s garden under the Banbhulpura area of Haldwani.
Officials said that they had sent a notice to the management of the madarsa-mosque informing them that the structure had been illegally built near the Banbhulpura police station. The madarsa management, in turn, could not furnish any documents substantiating that the structure was not illegally constructed. Moreover, the Corporation had previously seized three acres of land near the site of the illegal madrasa and namaz place, which they now demolished.
Reports suggest that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is conducting a meeting with top authorities to assess the situation.
Uttarakhand government launches crackdown on illegal madarsas and mazars
It may be recalled how in March last year, the Uttarakhand government rolled bulldozers over illegal mazars which were built by encroachment on the reserved forest land. The authorities conducted a survey and identified around 1400 religious structures built illegally on government land.
Prior to this, 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 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.
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.
