Purola Limping Back to Normalcy
The situation in Purole in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi district had been tense for the last about 20 days. Some Hindu right-wing organisations threatened Muslim traders with consequences if they did not leave the town. There were also demands for verification of all ‘outsiders’ by local trader unions. This made Muslim traders shut their business establishments on May 28.
The tension started on May 26 after some people allegedly caught two men with a minor girl. With one of the two men a Muslim, residents alleged it was a case of “love jihad”. While the girl was sent back home, the two men – Ubaid Khan (24) and Jitendra Saini (23) – were booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping) 366A (procuration of minor girl) of the IPC, and under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. They are currently in judicial custody.
However, thanks to a plea by Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), seeking to prevent a June 15 mahapanchayat called by right-wing groups in Purola, the Uttarakhand High Court on June 15 directed the state government to ensure that law and order and peace is maintained.
Some of the shops belonging to Muslim traders in Purola reopened on June 17 amid heavy police deployment. However, over a dozen Muslim families are reported to have left the town for good.
Muhammad Tahir
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
Don’t Provoke DMK, Stalin Warns BJP
Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and DMK presidentM.K. Stalin recently warned the BJP government against ‘inciting DMK cadre’ and said it will not able to ‘bear the consequences’.
In a message that the Union Government’s alleged misuse ofthe federal investigating agencies and ‘doing politics through ED’ will not be taken anymore lying down, Mr. Stalin warned that his party alsoknew ‘all types of politics’.
“Turn back the pages of history toknow the kind of agitations took up. Else, ask the senior leaders in Delhi. Don’t provoke.If you provoke the DMK or its workers, you will not be able to bear theconsequences. We also know alltypes of politics. This not a threat,but a warning,” he said, escalating
his attack on the saffron party after the arrest of power ministerV. Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case recently. The BJP government conducted severalraids from 2017 to 2018 on AIADMK leaders, he recalled and asked,“Did they file any case? Was anyone punished?” The truepurpose of the raids by CBI, IT, and ED is to threaten ‘slaves’ like AIADMK make them bow toBJP, he alleged.
The Tamil Nadu government hasenacted and implemented a lawin which Central investigating agencies like CBI, Enforcement Directorate, etc., cannot hold anyinquiry in the state without the prior permission of the Tamil Nadu government, in future, according to law minister S. Reghupathy.
Chowdhry Nisar Ahmed
Noorullah Pet, Ambur (T.N.)
New Parliament Building
Please refer to your signed editorial titled “New Parliament Building, No Guarantee for Inclusive India” vide Radiance of 10th June 2023.
You have asked certain pointed questions to the present regime. One of the questions is,“Why is the othering of a particular minority being encouraged by the establishment?”
It is a well-established fact that BJP’s political base is built on the consolidation of the majority and exclusion, etherisation and marginalisation of Muslims and Christians.
BJP is not going to budge an inch from its ideology. They will never forego a single opportunity to polarise Indians.We should continue our fight against fascist and communal forces, using all constitutional methods with the help of secular and like-minded people.
Farooq AbdulgafarBawani
Rajkot, Gujarat, India