Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Dhami vows to eradicate ‘land jihad’

On Friday, April 7, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated his authorities’s unsparing stance on illegally constructed mazars on designated forest land which could be mushrooming all over the place within the state, along with the Jim Corbett National Park, certainly one of many oldest and one of many essential well-known forested wildlife sanctuaries set amidst the foothills of the Himalayas throughout the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.

In a tweet shared by him on April 7, the Uttarakhand CM is seen vowing to do irrespective of it takes to eradicate the menace of ‘land jihad’ from Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. “It has been observed that 1000s of unauthorised mazars, or mausoleums, have been built on forest land in Uttarakhand,” Dhami acknowledged, together with that “anti-social elements emerge” from these mazars and that his authorities will take “strict action” in opposition to such constructions. 

देवभूमि उत्तराखंड में करेंगे अवैध मजारों को ध्वस्त।

ये नया उत्तराखण्ड है यहां अतिक्रमण करना तो दूर इसके बारे में अब कोई सोचे भी ना।@narendramodi@JPNadda@AmitShah @rajnathsingh@dushyanttgautam@BJP4India pic.twitter.com/jRe6VrD6dP

— Pushkar Singh Dhami (@pushkardhami) April 7, 2023

He acknowledged that his authorities is law-abiding and that no work shall be achieved in opposition to laws and religion in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. He further acknowledged that the state authorities simply is not in opposition to any religion or any neighborhood particularly, nonetheless, they’d not spare anyone indulging in ‘land jihad’ or ‘mazar jihad.’

Dhami acknowledged unequivocally that the encroachers should, throughout the subsequent 6 months, take away these illegal constructions on their very personal or be capable of face movement from the authorities. All mazars in-built Jim Corbett National Park should be eradicated immediately, or else the federal authorities would take away it, he added.

It is a matter of concern that the burgeoning drawback of illegal land encroachment simply is not solely pervasive in some areas nevertheless is slowly enveloping the complete state of Uttarakhand. It is unfortunate that the issue of ‘land jihad’ in Devbhoomi Uttarakhand, which has been prevalent for pretty some time, and OpIndia has been extensively reporting since 2021, has solely within the close to previous gained mainstream media consideration.

Aaj Tak, Friday, printed a report on the approaching drawback of land jihad, which OpIndia has been extensively reporting since 2021. We, in our research, highlighted how in merely 2 years, practically 400 new madarsas, mosques and religious institutions mushroomed throughout the state of Uttarakhand.

In September 2021, we reported a case of land jihad in Uttrakhand near Tehri Dam. We reported about an illegal mosque that was constructed by way of the early 2000s at an internet site in Khand-Khala Koti Colony, which was in shut proximity to the dam, and since then, Hindu organizations have tried quite a few situations to get it eradicated. Recently, throughout the first week of September 2021, a bunch of native Hindus started modern protests in opposition to the mosque and paced up the efforts to get well from 150 sq. meters of land freed from illegal possession.

In May 2022, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami launched movement in opposition to the mazars mushrooming in all places throughout the state calling them encroachments.

In June 2022, our employees visited assorted elements of the state, along with Jim Corbett National Park, to delve into this drawback further. To our horror, there have been quite a few mazars that mushroomed up inside Jim Corbett National Park, certainly one of many oldest and one of many essential well-known forested wildlife sanctuaries set amidst the foothills of the Himalayas throughout the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.

OpIndia moreover spoke to Swami Darshan Bharti, a veteran saint working in opposition to illegal mazars and drug addicts, who raised points about this radical downside plaguing the state of Uttarakhand.

Swami Darshan Bharati knowledgeable OpIndia that a very powerful improve to the Muslim inhabitants in Uttarakhand received right here by way of the Congress authorities led by ND Tiwari. He acknowledged that it was not the BJP authorities, nevertheless the sooner Congress regime that helped illegal Roginyas settle proper right here by preparing their official paperwork.

He outlined, “Earlier, the cumulative number of Muslims in Uttarakhand was roughly 1.5 to 2%. The local Muslims spoke Garhwali and were sensitive to the indigenous culture. When Uttarakhand annexed the district of Haridwar, the entire Muslim population rose to 5 to 6%. Furthermore, when Yogi Adityanath took over the charge in Uttar Pradesh, many Muslims abandoned the state and settled in Uttarakhand. Among the settlers are a number of well-known Muslim leaders and entrepreneurs. Muslims now constitute around 14% of the population of Uttarakhand. Infiltrators from Bangladesh and Rohingyas living in the riverside slums are adding to this population. These illegal infiltrators and Rohingyas have also arranged all the necessary government documents over these years”, acknowledged the Hindu saint.

Months after OpIndia launched the demographic imbalance in Uttarakhand to the fore, the state authorities took cognisance of this impending drawback and directed the state authorities to clear forest land of encroachment. The authorities, in flip, launched a major crackdown, rolling bulldozers over illegal mazars which have been constructed by encroachment on the reserved forest land.

In December 2022, the federal authorities of Uttarakhand ran bulldozers on some illegally constructed tombs. 15 mazars constructed throughout the forests of Dehradun and Pauri districts have been demolished. 17 tombs constructed on the land of the Forest Department have been acknowledged, nevertheless two tombs have been left after the paperwork have been confirmed by way of the movement.

Once as soon as extra in March 2023, the Pushkar Singh Dhami authorities demolished 26 mazars which were illegally constructed on the federal authorities’s forest land. The authorities carried out a survey and acknowledged spherical 1400 spiritual constructions constructed illegally on authorities land. As per research, among the many illegal Mazars did not even embrace any human stays.

Now, as quickly as as soon as extra, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has vowed strict movement in opposition to illegally constructed mazars on authorities forest land which could be remaining in assorted elements of the state.