The Uttarakhand government, under the leadership of Pushkar Singh Dhami, has taken strong measures to address the issue of unauthorized construction of Mazars (mausoleums) and other religious structures.
Described as a significant endeavour to combat unlawful religious activities, especially within forested regions, the authorities have demolished over 330 Mazars in the past 90 days, marking a substantial cleanup operation.
Supported by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological mentor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), this campaign to demolish religious structures gained momentum following intelligence reports indicating a significant increase in “religious encroachments” in Uttarakhand, known as “Devbhoomi” due to its abundance of pilgrimage sites.
“The effort to address encroachments will persist in Devbhoomi. We will not permit any form of land jihad to take place in Uttarakhand,” stated Chief Minister Dhami.
Earlier today, the Corbett Tiger Reserve administration dismantled nine Mazars that were situated deep within the forested area. According to reports, one of the illegal mazars that was demolished today was 150 years old.
While human activities are generally prohibited within tiger reserves, except for regulated safaris, an exception was observed in the case of Corbett Tiger Reserve, where unrestricted access to Mazars within the reserved forest area was allowed.
Dhiraj Pande, the director of Corbett Tiger Reserve, informed News18.com that they have implemented strict measures against unlawful encroachments as per the government’s directives. Notices were issued to individuals connected with the Mazars a week ago, but there was no response from them. Consequently, a demolition drive was carried out.
The official stated that during the past three months, over 325 Mazars were demolished throughout the state, resulting in the liberation of approximately 91 hectares of forest land.
Parag Madhukar Dhakate, an IFS officer responsible for overseeing the anti-encroachment drive, expressed his directive to divisional forest officers, urging them to plant fruit saplings in the now vacant land that has been cleared of encroachments.
Earlier in March 2023, the Uttarakhand government rolled bulldozers over illegal mazars which were built by encroachment on the reserved forest land. The action took place after Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami directed the state authorities to clear forest land of encroachment.
The government authorities 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.
While Chief Minister Dhami has adopted an assertive stance, the senior leadership of the main opposition party, Congress, has remained silent on the matter. The party has consistently argued for the regularization of Mazars constructed before 1980.
However, officials have emphasized that not a single claimant has come forward to assert ownership or make any claims regarding the Mazars.
