After local administration sealed an illegal madrasa built on government land in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, dozens of local Muslims armed with sticks and rods reportedly reached at the residence of BJP councillor Nooruddin from Ward No. 15 on Monday (17th June) and misbehaved with his family.
As per reports, Nooruddin, who was not present at his house at the time, lodged a complaint at the Rampura police post stating that the mob threatened to kill him. A case has been filed by the police against 12 persons based on Nooruddin’s complaint. Rampra Station House Officer, Priyanshu Joshi said that the police are investigating the case and are on a lookout for the accused. Police are examining the CCTV footage to nab the accused.
Councillor Nooruddin has stated that some men in his ward have been maintaining a personal grudge with him and have been hostile since he won the local body elections with BJP’s support. The men have been provoking locals against him, and they used the incident of the illegal madrasa being sealed as an excuse to instigate a mob to attack his house.
Illegal consrtuctin on ‘Nazul Land’
On Monday, a joint team of the administration, including ADM Pankaj Upadhyay, Sub-urban Commissioner Shipra Joshi and Tehsildar Dinesh Kutaula, sealed the illegal madrasa constructed on Nazul land in Ward No. 15, in the Paharganj areas of Rudrapur Municipal Corporation of the Udham Singh Nagar district.
Nazul land is a land owned by state government but is not directly managed as state property. It is a government owned land which is often leased out for various purposes, including residential and commercial.
The team identified 50 other illegal, under construction buildings and also took stock of illegal structures in the Kalyani River area. The committee members of the madrasa have been ordered to show the land documents. ADM Pankaj Upadhyay said that there is a large-scale illegal encroachment on the banks of the Kalyani River and action will be taken to remove it as well.
Dhami government’s anti-encroachment drive
Uttarakhand government led by CM Pushkar Singh Dhami has been conducting a statewide anti-encroachment drive to free the government land of illegal structures. By December 2023, the government freed 5000 acres of land encroached through Land Jihad. The Dhami government has also been demolishing illegal construction on forest land in the state. In the beginning of 2023, government authorities demolished 26 Mazars that were illegally constructed on the forest land. Besides, the authorities conducted a survey and identified around 1400 religious structures built illegally on government land.
In April 2023, CM Dhami expressed his government’s resolve to eliminate the menace of ‘land jihad’ from Devbhoomi Uttarakhand. His government has been working in mission mode and taking stringent action against illegal structures mushrooming all over the state, including the Jim Corbett National Park, one of the oldest and one of the most famous forested wildlife sanctuaries set amidst the foothills of the Himalayas in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand.
Recently, on 20th March, 16 illegal madarsas in Udham Singh Nagar and 2 in Haridwar were sealed by the Dhami government. So far, more than 110 illegal madrasas have been sealed in the state. Over 200 illegal madrasas, built on government land, have been identified and marked by the state government. Udham Singh Nagar district has the highest concentration of them at 129, followed by 57 in Dehradun and 26 in Nainital.
