The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea to prevent 'mahapanchayat' proposed to be held in Purola town in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on June 15 (Thursday) amid rising communal tensions in the state. A vacation bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah asked the petitioners – Delhi University professor Apoorvanand and poet Ashok Vajpeyi – to approach the high court or concerned authorities.
"We are not short-circuiting the legal process. There is a high court and district administration, you can approach them. Maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the state government, why do you think no action will be taken if matter is brought to its notice? You should have faith in the high court," the bench noted.
Tension gripped several areas of Uttarakhand after a minor Hindu girl was allegedly abducted by two men – a Hindu and a Muslim – in Purola. The youths were caught by the police and an FIR was lodged against them. However, the petitioners have said that if the mahapanchayat organised by the right-wing groups is allowed to happen, “it could lead to a boil in communal tensions in the State.”
“Posters threatening Muslim traders to shut shops and leave the state by June 15 have recently surfaced. Due to the tension and threats, Muslim residents have already shut their shops and some families have migrated from the district,” according to the petition filed before the apex court.
They said that an urgent judicial intervention is required “to protect the life, limb, and property” of those under attack and against whom the mahapanchayat has been scheduled to be held.
The mahapanchayat is expected to be attended by several organisations and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have taken charge of it, according to media reports. Meanwhile, Muslim organisations too have announced their own mahapanchayat on June 18, according to reports.
According to Purola district magistrate Abhishek Rohilla, section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in the town and the district administration has also refused permission to hold the ‘mahapanchayat’ organised by Hindutva groups over what they called “love-jihad” cases.
The petitioners, on the other hand, feel that the government and administration are not doing enough to prevent the mahapanchayat from taking place.
“The so-called case has been distorted and called ‘love-jihad’...and also ‘land jihad’...it is all state propaganda against Muslims which the BJP is doing all over India,” petitioner Apoorvanand says, speaking to Outlook.
The administration is not stopping the “goons”, he says. “Administration has accepted that it cannot order them. It is now begging the goons to not do it (hold a mahapanchayat). And they are telling the administration that they will not relent.”
“The question is, why are the posters being allowed to be put up in Purola? Videos have been circulated of Muslim traders being abused and threatened; why is it being allowed to happen? Why are they (the perpetrators) who are on camera not being arrested,” Apoorvanand asks.
Notably, Uttarkashi DM Abhishek Rohilla and Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi visited Purola on Monday to assess the situation in the hill town. They also met the SDM, Circle Officer and Purola SHO to review the situation.
Fear Rises Among Muslim Traders
Shops run by Muslims in Purola remained shut for the 18th consecutive day today even as the top officials held a meeting with different sections of the society and appealed to them to maintain peace and harmony. Muslim traders told officials that for the first time in the last 45 years, the threatening posters pasted on shops and the proposed 'mahapanchayat' has created fear in their minds.
During the meeting with officials, Vyapar Mandal president Brijmohan Chauhan said that apart from "criminal-minded" Muslim businessmen, no one was asked to leave Purola, as quoted by PTI.
Those who closed their shops and left the town did so of their own free will. The anger of the people is also due to the fact that the businessmen of a particular community do not cooperate in identifying the criminals, Chauhan alleged.
Meanwhile, the DM has appealed to Vyapar Mandal representatives to let Muslim businessmen reopen their shops and promised to provide full protection to the latter in doing so. Rohilla also said that no organisation had yet approached him to seek permission to organise the ‘mahapanchayat’.
Those who spoil the atmosphere through posters are being identified and those who provoke will not be spared, he told reporters.
The petitioners approached the Uttarakhand High Court following the Supreme Court’s direction where they hope justice is provided. The high court has listed the matter for tomorrow.
