Himachal Pradesh is in the throes of protests as thousands of Hindus have taken to the streets against what they assert to be a deliberate attempt to effect demographic change and fuel chaos in an overwhelmingly Hindu state.
A peculiar incident provides a background into why Hindus in Himachal Pradesh have decided to take the matter into their own hands and protest against what appears to be a sinister plan to surreptitiously Islamise the society and change the demographic composition of the society.
Curiously, at least 46 Muslim vendors in Shimla were caught using the Aadhaar Card with the same date of birth. Unsurprisingly, all of them were outsiders. Most of those vendors had recently come to Himachal Pradesh under the pretext of starting a business.
A report published in Jagran said 46 out of 88 Muslim vendors in Shimla had the same date of birth. This led to protests from the traders and locals, who filed a complaint with the police, demanding them to authenticate their identities. Thousands thronged the streets of Shimla to oppose what they call a conscious attempt at altering the demography of a predominantly Hindu state. In addition, security concerns also prompted a raft of people to come out in protest against vendors who had reportedly forged their identities to operate their businesses in the state.
However, this is not the first time that the state has been rocked by public demonstrations.
For the last few weeks, large-scale protests have been a mainstay of Himachal Pradesh, also known as ‘Devabhoomi’ because of its strong association with Hindu mythology and religion. But this ‘Devabhoomi’ appears to be facing imminent threats from irreversible demographic alteration, cultural decay, and illegal encroachment and construction.
While the issue has been a flashpoint for decades, it gained prominence with the protests against the unauthorised structure raised at what locals claim as an illegal mosque. The issue is more than 14 years old but it took a violent turn when some Muslim youths launched a deadly assault with rods and sticks on Hindu traders in the Malyana region on 30th August. 37-year-old businessman Vikram Singh endured critical injuries while four other businessmen were also hurt. The incident further escalated the tensions as the local Hindu community took to the streets to protest against the attack as well as the illegal mosque.
Waqf Board recently gave a submission to a Shimla court that it owns the mosque and the argument was only about its further development. The Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner’s court heard both parties in the mosque case and fixed the next hearing for 5th October.
On the other hand, the matter was also raised in the state assembly which sparked disagreements among the leaders of the ruling Congress party. According to MLA Harish Janartha, the mosque was built on land owned by the Waqf Board before 1960. He did, however, add that three stories were erected unlawfully in 2010 and asserted that they were taken down. He claimed that both outsiders and local Muslims were using the mosque and alleged that some elements were exacerbating the problem.
The attack and the ensuing protests, however, rippled through the state, prompting people elsewhere to come out and express their disapproval against illegal construction and structures built on usurped lands. Following Sanjauli, a large number of locals in Himachal’s Mandi district came out on the streets protesting against an unauthorised structure built at a mosque.
After the cases of illegal mosques came to light from Shimla’s Sanjauli, a massive protest erupted in Kullu against an illegal Jama Masjid built in the town’s Shriram Street. Hindus, in large numbers, staged a protest against the illegal mosque.
In Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu, the illegal mosque that triggered outrage among the Hindu community is located on Shriram Street of Akhara Bazaar. It goes by the name of Jama Masjid. According to Hindu organisations, the Jama Masjid has been illegally built on land that belongs to the Khadi and Village Industries Board.
Demanding administrative action against the illegal construction of this mosque, the protesters took out a march from Ramshila’s Hanuman Temple to Dhalpur Chowk. Members of Hindu Jagran Manch and other Hindu organisations began Hanuman Chalisa recitals nearly 10 meters away from the site of the illegal mosque.
According to Hindu organisations, in correspondence that has been going on since 2017, the Kullu Municipal Council has accepted that this mosque was built illegally on land that belongs to Khadi and Village Industries.
It is claimed that the Jama Masjid was built in Akhara Bazaar in 1990-1991. Back then, the structure had only one floor. Later, it underwent reconstruction in 2017 and now it has four floors. Back then, the Hindu organisations had raised objections against construction work in this illegal mosque which had halted its work. According to them, the structure of this building doesn’t adhere to the map passed for this place.
The Hindu organisations added that nuisance creators are coming from other states to Himachal Pradesh. Their number runs in hundreds daily and they enter Himachal without any registration. They commit anti-social activities and are thus posing a threat to the culture and security of this place.
For those protesting against the illegal mosques and unauthorised structures, the fight is not only about the brazen violation of law and order in the name of religious freedom but also about the existential threat they face from a proselytising faith that poses a grave threat to their religious and cultural identity.
