Uttarkashi: FIR books 200 people for attack on police during rally for demolition of mosque

DEHRADUN:

A first information report (FIR) has been registered against over 200 people who participated in a protest to demand the demolition of a mosque in Uttarkashi town on Thursday and attacked police personnel who tried to stop them from breaching the barricades, the Uttarakhand police said.

Eight police personnel sustained injuries in the violence including two who were shifted to Dehradun.

Police said the Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Rakshak Sangh, an umbrella group of Hindu organisations, had been permitted to hold a protest rally. The timing and the route of the procession were decided in advance. But some protesters insisted on going towards the mosque, prompting the police to prevent them from breaching the barricades.

Police said the incident took place between 1 pm and 3.30 pm on Thursday.

Amarjeet Singh, station house officer of Uttarkashi police station, said the protestors were given permission to take out the march from Shri Dev Suman Manch, Hanuman Chowk, pass through the main market, Kali Kamli Dharamshala, before concluding at the Bhatwadi Taxi Stand Ramlila Ground.

“The protestors, however, reached the Single Tiraha and tried to break the barricade and move towards the mosque. We tried to persuade them but they insisted on moving beyond the barricades. Suddenly one of them threw a bottle at one of the police personnel that injured him. They then started pelting stones at us. We had to use the force to disperse them,” Singh said.

“The protestors even ransacked four shops of the Muslim community and misbehaved with the women cops. They also made provocative speeches against them,” he added.

Uttarkashi superintendent of police (SP) Amit Srivastava said the protesters scuffled and threw stones at the police personnel. Prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 have been imposed across the district, he said.

The Sanyukt Sanatan Dharam Rakshak Sangh, which organised Thursday’s protest, has been campaigning for the demolition of a mosque, claiming that it was built illegally. In a memorandum to the Uttarkashi district magistrate Meharban Singh Bisht on September 9, the outfit claimed that the mosque was not registered in the official revenue records and should be demolished. The DM set up a committee headed by the Bhatwari sub-divisional magistrate to examine the claim. But the panel did not find any evidence to support this claim and reported that the mosque was built on land registered in the names of Muslims.

The outfit, however, refused to accept this finding.

Swami Darshan Bharti of Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, who participated in the protest march claimed the violence was started by Muslims who hid behind trees and pelted stones at the protesters and the police started lathi charge at the same time. “This agitated the protestors who too started pelting stones at the police,” he said, a claim that the police had rejected on Thursday evening. “The mosque is illegal. We can go to any extent for its demolition. We won’t allow the demographic change in Uttarakhand,” he said.

Halim Baig, a prominent lawyer in Uttarkashi, said, “The mosque is built on the land purchased by the members of our community. The land was registered in 1969. A mutation of the same was done as a mosque in the revenue records. It is also registered with the Waqf. If it was illegal, why wasn’t it demolished for 55 years,” he said.\.

To be sure, the police haven’t made any arrests yet in the case.

Apart from the 200 unidentified people, the FIR has named Jitendra Chauhan, Sonu Negi, Suraj Dabral, Kulveer Rana, Sushil Sharma, Gautam Rawat, Alok Rawat, Sachendra Parmar, all residents of Uttarkashi, as the suspects.

The FIR has been registered under sections 109 (attempt to murder), 121 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 121 (2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 132 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 191 (1) (rioting), 193 (2) (Liability of person for whose benefit riot is committed), 195 (assaulting or obstructing public servant when suppressing riot, etc), 196 (promoting enmity between two different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.,), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 3 (5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 324 (1) (mischief), 324 (3) (Mischief - causes loss or damage to any property including the property of Government or Local Authority), and 74 (Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.