In Dharchula town of district Pithoragarh of Uttarakhand, the local traders’ association has asked 86 traders of the Muslim community to leave the town. The association cancelled their licenses after the police arrested a barber of the Muslim community for allegedly abducting two Hindu minor girls and taking them to his UP hometown, Bareilly, in February this year.

On 8th February, Pithorgarh Superintendent of Police Lokeshwar Singh said in a statement that they arrested a man named Irfan for abducting two minor Hindu girls from Dharchula, Uttarakhand. Irfan and his associate took them to Bareilly intending to marry them. A case against the accused was filed under Sections 363 and 376 of the Indian Penal Code and appropriate Sections of the POCSO Act.

Reports suggest that Mohammad Irfan came in contact with the girls and lured them. He was working as a barber in Dharchula town. During interrogation, he revealed that he wanted to take them to Bengaluru. The girls were abducted on 1st February and recovered on 4th February.

Islamists and left-liberals cry foul

After the ultimatum given by the local traders, Islamists and left-liberals cried foul on social media, and a social media account, “Hate Detector”, published a post on the matter, painting the Muslims in the area as “victims”. The handle wrote, “In #Uttarakhand’s #Dharchula, local trader association cancelled the registration of 91 shopkeepers almost all #Muslims and locals are being urged not to rent out their shop and house to ‘outsiders’. Campaign to drive out “outsiders” is on in town after #Muslim man eloped with a local girl. Following the elopement on 1 February, the police arrested a man from #Bareilly two days later. However, local people continued their campaign against “outsiders”. Boycott calls were given during the campaign. “We will not give the shop and house on rent to the outsiders. Neither, we will buy anything from them,” said a speaker while addressing a crowd.” Interestingly, they painted abduction as “elopement” and targetted the locals who were horrified by the incident as if they were oppressing the Muslim traders.

In #Uttarakhand's #Dharchula, local trader association cancelled registration of 91 shopkeepers almost all #Muslims and locals are being urged not to rent out their shop and house to 'outsiders'. Campaign to drive out "outsiders" is on in town after #Muslim man eloped with local… pic.twitter.com/gROVfSuRMQ

— Hate Detector ? (@HateDetectors) March 19, 2024

X user Mukarram Hussain wrote, “One fish contaminates the entire pond. This is an example of that. Their decision is wrong. Nothing will be achieved by doing this but it ends the sense of belonging. People should always talk about unity.”

Fake news peddler Md Asif Khan wrote, “Muslim traders are being targeted in Uttarakhand.” He conveniently ignored to mention why Muslims were asked to leave the region.

X user djjwsksdjwjjd called Hindus “terrorists” and called for their boycott in Islamic countries.

X user book_of_evil claimed it was discrimination based on religion and claimed the minority religion was being persecuted. Interestingly, he also ignored the reason behind the demand for Muslims to leave the region.

X user Seher presented as if Muslims were asked to leave just because they were “outsiders”. She questioned what would happen if the shops of Uttarakhandis in other states were forced to shut. She also called for arresting the locals for trying to save their women from Islamists.

Dr Sumedh Anathpindika brought “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” into the argument and called the proclamations “unconstitutional”. However, Sumedh forgot to explain why local traders took such drastic steps.

X user PageBlank also called Hindus “terrorists” for asking Muslims to leave the region. The handle conveniently ignored the reason behind the call and wrote, “Hindutva terrorists have asked all the Muslim traders (86 in total) to leave the area and handover their properties to them in Utrakhand’s Dharchula town of Pithoragarh district. Local BJP officials are supporting these goons so Police is reluctant to take any action.”

It is interesting to note that none of the usual Islamists playing the victim on X mentioned that the action by the Hindu community came after the pandemic of Muslim men abducting minor Hindu girls in Uttarakhand. The Islamists want to paint this as the unilateral targeting of Muslims by the Hindu community in Uttarakhand, however, that is far from the truth. This is not the first time that the Hindu community has protested Muslim men luring minor Hindu girls.

Tensions in Uttarakhand after multiple cases of Love Jihad were reported in 2023

Cases of Love Jihad were reported in 2023 from the Purola and Chamoli regions of the state. On May 31, massive protests erupted in the Purola region after two boys one of whom was a Muslim abducted a Hindu minor girl. The Muslim boy had trapped the girl in a love affair and had promised her marriage. Later, the Hindu residents in the region demanded verification of ‘outsiders’ (most of whom are Muslims) residing in the city. Weeks after the incident, several Muslim shop owners left the place after Police began verification of outsiders.

On June 7, two Muslim youths attempted to elope with a minor Hindu girl in Gauchar town in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Gulzar alias Nitin (26) and Aslam (21) lured a 15-year-old Hindu girl and took her to a hotel on Tuesday, June 6. They told the hotel staff that the girl was the daughter of their maternal aunt. However, the hotel owner grew suspicious and informed the police about it. Meanwhile, one of the accused escaped along with the minor girl. The Hindu activists then protested outside the Gauchar police station and demanded action against the Muslim youths.

On June 18, two Muslim brothers from Bijnor in UP deliberately hid their real identity and posed as Hindus to trap two real sisters who were practising Hindus in Dehradun. Reportedly, the elder brother, Mohammad Salik, also raped a girl on the pretext of marriage. He worked as a junior advocate in the Dehradun court for a year. Meanwhile, his younger brother is studying for an MBBS in Bangladesh.

To gain the trust of Hindu girls, the accused duo tied kalava, bad-mouthed Muslims, and even took the sisters to watch ‘The Kerala Story’. However, the elder brother got exposed while making an online payment to the landlord for a flat in Panditwadi, and slowly, everything unravelled.

OpIndia also went to the Purola town in Uttarkashi, Uttarakhand, to investigate the facts to dispel the ‘secular’ narrative being peddled by the leftist media in the wake of the May 26 incident which involved the attempted abduction of a minor Hindu girl by accused Uved Khan.

When OpIndia inquired about this issue with certain individuals connected to Hindu organisations in Uttarkashi, the situation was contrary to what had been reported. Hindu organisations alluded to the Hindus of Uttarakhand as being the victims of the rapid demographic changes and land, business and love jihad happening in the state, rather than the Muslim migrants whom the leftist media and the ‘liberal’ coterie are busy projecting as victims.

While propagandists like Arfa Khanum Sherwani ran a narrative that Muslims were in danger, OpIndia’s investigation revealed the local Hindus in Devbhoomi were the ones who were truly terrified. The Uttarakhand police also denied that Muslims in Uttarkashi town were under any threat.

Why terming it ‘elopement’ is nothing short of whitewashing crimes against children

One of the Islamist handles, Hate Tracker, tried to whitewash the kidnapping of the minors by calling it ‘elopement’. This is a classic technique used by Islamists to whitewash religiously motivated gender crimes by Muslims. It is pertinent to understand here that when an adult lures a minor into what we call a “relationship”, it is not a consensual relationship per se because a minor would not have the maturity or agency to give consent to running away with the accused. Even according to the law, the minor would have less than adequate understanding of the consequences of her actions and therefore, her consent is not considered when evaluating the actions of the adult. The Islamists have often termed adult Muslim men luring minor Hindu children as consentual relationships in an attempt to whitewash the targeting of Hindu girls on religious lines.