By Arun Pratap Singh
Uttarkashi, 25 Oct: Uneasy peace prevailed in Uttarkashi today, a day after the dispute over an allegedly legal mosque snowballed into a major issue, with police having to resort to a lathi charge last evening. The District Administration has issued prohibitory orders under Section 163 of Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). Meanwhile, the markets remained totally closed today and no untoward incident was reported from anywhere in the district. The police also conducted a flag march. The government has also summoned the investigation report in this regard from the district administration and the police.
Sources in the ‘Sanyukta Sanatan Dharma Rakshak Dal’ claimed today that a Maha Panchayat has been summoned by various Hindu organisations on 4 November to discuss the strategy regarding the agitation going on against the mosque. The sources said that, in view of the upcoming Diwali festival, no agitation has been planned before 4 November. The Hindu organisations have however expressed deep anguish over the allegedly “one-sided” police action against the agitation. They allege that the police did not act when certain people from another community started pelting stones at the Hindu protesters. However, when the Hindu protesters started retaliating, the Police resorted to a lathi-charge against them.
These Hindu organisations have sent a letter to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami with the information they have gathered through RTI and other documents, claiming that the mosque in question has been built illegally. They have pointed out that a residential building has been illegally constructed on private land at a distance of 100 metres from the District Magistrate’s office without obtaining any plan approval. They have stated that the building, built on private land owned by people of the Muslim community, has been attracting a large number of outsiders on a regular basis of late and this is disturbing the atmosphere of Uttarkashi and causing anger among the local residents. They have also pointed out in their letter that, in the RTI documents obtained from the district administration, the said land has not been mentioned as a mosque which indicates it has not been constructed legally following the due process. The local Hindu leaders claim this land had been supposedly sold by one Sardar Singh in 2004-05, though he had died in 1991, and his sons were registered as landowners. The leaders also claimed that Sardar Singh’s sons and the rest of the family were not even contacted when the land mutation was done during 2004-05. How could a person, who died 15 years ago sell his land in 2004-05, they have asked.
These Hindu organisations have demanded that the case file (bearing No 406/2004-05 under Section 34L) be reviewed, and the entire matter be investigated. They also disputed DM Meherban Singh’s statement in this regard issued yesterday that the mosque had been built legally. They also alleged that the DM and SP arrived here after the lathi-charge started even though the protesters were demanding that they be called to the spot when they were stopped from proceeding further yesterday. However, the SP and the DM arrived at the spot only after the lathi-charge.
