New Delhi, Feb. 16: A fact-finding team comprising members of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) and Karawan-e-Mohabbat visited Haldwani on Wednesday to know the ground reality and present the real picture of the violence, role of local administration, police high-handedness, conspiracy theories, and false narratives build up against the Muslim community to polarise sentiments.
Harsh Mander, former IPS officer and founder of Karawan-e-Mohabbat, while addressing mediapersons at Press Club of India here Thursday, said, “The Haldwani incident has not happened suddenly;it was the culmination of ongoing hate campaign and hate narrative build up on various forms of ‘Love Jihad’and the most recent ‘Mazar Jihad’. Uttarakhand is being called a Devbhoomi, the holy land for Hindus where there is no room for people with Muslim identity.”
“The chief minister has taken pride in saying that he has removed 3000 mazars and has announced it as a matter of accomplishment. First of all, centuries-long religious structures in Haldwani and elsewhere in the country are not encroaching on lands but instead, the cities have encroached on their lands. And even if it’s to be demolished,the move should apply equally to religious structures of all faiths and there should not be selective targeting of Muslim religious structures,” said Mander.
“The matter was pending before the High Court,and the hearing was scheduled on February 14. But, on February 8, it was bulldozed. Local people asked the authoritiesto wait for the court’sruling, sayingthat they would accept the court’sdecision; but all pleadings went in vain. The violence that followed was entirely avoidable as it was predictable. The administration has claimed properties worth 200 crores have been damaged and we will recover from the perpetrators of the violence,” added Mander.
Ashok Sharma, IPS and former Ambassador, who was part of Karawan-e-Mohabbat team, while emphasising the role of local administration, said, “The role of local administration was political and partisan. They completely violated the code and ethics of civil service and their conduct was purely unconstitutional. He demanded that the role of local administration should also be investigated. The police have made a local school interrogation-cum-detention centre.
Nadeem Khan of APCR said, “The person at the helm of affairs, Pankaj Upadhya, the Commissioner of Haldwani Municipal Corporation who led the Bulldozer operation was already transferred but even then he led the operation. Instead of transferring charges to another authority, he led the process and eventually the structure was demolished.
Nadeem added, “The demolished structure was sealed and Muslim Ulama and religious leaders were taken into confidence. The property was already under governmentcontrol. The claimant went to the court, and just four days before the hearing on February 14 it was demolished. Before demolishingthe Masjid and Madrasa, four houses were demolished and there was no violence. But when they started to demolish the structure, people resisted that when the government has already sealed and the matter is pending before the court, why it is being demolished.”
He further said, “All imams of the city,who recently met the District Magistrate, asked him that ‘when it was sealed and we were taken into confidence at that time; so at least you should have talked to us in this regard.’ The DM replied that she had called them but their numbers were switched off. The Qazi of the city wondered how the mobile phones of 80 people might have been switched off.”
Wajahat Habibullah, the first CIC, said, “What has happened in Haldwani is not only violative of the rule of law but also against the very spirit of our Constitution. The very partisan action has been violative of the foundation of our Constitution. India today is moving in a different direction and efforts should be made to preserve our Constitution.