Aap Ki Adalat: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has said that ‘mazaars’ were built on government lands in the state and termed the act of “illegal encroachments” as “Land Jihad”. Dhami, in a stern message, said that the government would remove any mosque built on the encroached land, considering it as “encroachment”.
The Chief Minister stressed that his administration wojuld not allow a change in demography at any cost.
Replying to questions on the recent Haldwani violence in Rajat Sharma's 'Aap Ki Adalat' show, Dhami said, “the government land like PWD land, irrigation department land, revenue land and forest land were encroached upon and 'mazaars' were built. These were illegal encroachments. We dug out several mazaars and did not find any skeletal remains. How can anybody justify encroachments?...This is 'Land Jihad'”.
“We will not allow any change to the 'mool swaroop' (original features) of our Devbhoomi....If mosque has been built on encroached land, it will be considered as encroachment, and will be removed. We will not allow change in demography of Devbhoomi at any cost,” he added.
Haldwani violence
Violence broke out on February 8 over the demolition of an illegally built madrassa in the Banbhoolpura area, with locals hurling stones and petrol bombs at municipal workers and police, forcing many police personnel to seek refuge at a police station, which the mob then set on fire.
In the violence, six rioters were killed and more than 100, including police personnel and mediapersons, were injured, according to the police.
Uttarakhand Police on Friday (February 16) released the photos of nine rioters who are accused of creating chaos in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area over the demolition of an illegal madrassa earlier this month. The state government shared the photos of “wanted” rioters via its X handle. A look-out notice has also been issued against the key accused in the violence Abdul Malik and his son Abdul Moid, the police said.
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