Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 3 Sep: A day after the National Annual Report and Index on Women Safety (NARI 2025) placed Dehradun among the top ten unsafe cities in the country, Uttarakhand Mahila Congress workers staged a strong protest today, raising slogans and attempting to gherao the BJP state office. Tension prevailed as police stopped the protestors midway, leading to a sit-in demonstration on the road.
Former minister Harak Singh Rawat also joined the agitation. In the ensuing chaos, police detained State Mahila Congress President Jyoti Rautela, State Vice President Asha Manorama Dobriyal Sharma, Harak Singh Rawat and several Congress members.
Under the leadership of State Mahila Congress President Jyoti Rautela, Congress workers, carrying cow dung in a pot, began their march from Nehru Colony LIC Chowk towards the BJP state office. However, a large police contingent, deployed at Sammer Valley School near Fountain Chowk, stopped the demonstrators well before they could reach their destination. Barricades had been erected in several layers between Sammer Valley School and Fountain Chowk, and security was further tightened at the BJP office. Despite repeated attempts, the protestors were unable to breach the barricades, leading to heated exchanges with the police.
Amid the confrontation, Jyoti Rautela climbed onto the barricades to register her protest. She alleged that, since the BJP government assumed power, incidents of atrocities and crimes against women have witnessed a sharp increase. She claimed that, in the last three years alone, more than 10,000 women have gone missing in the state, while according to NCRB figures, over 2,500 women have been victims of rape and oppression. Referring to the latest report that has listed Dehradun among the ten most unsafe cities in the country, she said it had created an atmosphere of fear across Uttarakhand.
Rautela claimed that the Mahila Congress was compelled to take to the streets to highlight these issues and expose the government’s indifference. She said the BJP had come to power making tall promises, but the present situation reflects only fear and insecurity.
Mahila Congress leaders described as deeply shameful that Dehradun continued to feature among the most unsafe cities. They said women’s safety remained in peril while the government refused to even acknowledge such reports. It was for this reason, they declared, that Congress women had carried cow dung in pots to the BJP office — as a symbolic act to purify the ruling party and awaken it to the cause of women’s safety.
