Protest against mosque in Uttarkashi turns violent, over 30 people injured

Five police personnel, 30 protesters injured; right-wing groups were protesting against a mosque

Five police personnel and more than 30 people were injured after a rally taken out by right-wing groups demanding demolition of a mosque turned violent in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand on Thursday (October 24, 204).

The protesters threw stones at the police, who resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the crowd.

The Jan Akrosh Rally was organised under the banner of the Sanyukt Sanatan Dharma Rakshak Dal. Members of the Bajrang Dal, the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, other right- wing organisations and local traders participated.

The protesters alleged that the mosque, which sits near the Kashi Vishwanath temple, was illegally built on government land and demanded its removal at the earliest.

Talking to The Hindu, Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Amit Srivastava said the protesters had taken permission for the rally. Considering the ongoing Char Dham Yatra, the police had chalked a route for the rally.

“In the afternoon, the protesters were marching in the main market of the town and this is when they attempted to break through the police barricades on Bhatwadi Road. Police tried to stop them and they threw stones at us. We had to use force to disperse the crowd,” the officer said.

He said that five police personnel were injured and that a first information report would be filed in the matter soon.

Darshan Bharti, head of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyaan, said around 30 demonstrators were injured in the lathi-charge by the police, adding that the condition of one was critical.

The DRA is the organisation that had pasted posters last year in the town of Purola asking Muslims to leave. After several Muslim families left the town, the Utarakhand High Court asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led State government to maintain law and order and peace between communities.

“I too received four stitches on my head as I was at the front of the rally. None of us threw stones. It was the police which started the lathi-charge,” Mr. Bharti said.

He said the mosque initially functioned out of a room, but it kept growing bigger with each passing year. He alleged that the land on which the mosque was built belonged to a Hindu family.

“Someone had filed an RTI application to know the ownership of the land on which the mosque is built and the administration had informed in the response that the mosque authorities did not possess the necessary documents. This is when we had decided to raise the issue and get this mosque demolished,” Mr. Bharti said.

Uttarkashi District Magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht, at a press conference earlier this month, had clarified that the mosque had all the necessary documents and was also registered by the Waqf Board.

Published - October 24, 2024 10:56 pm IST