Uttarakhand Villages Erect Boards Prohibiting Entry Of Non-Hindus, Rohingya Muslims

In the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, a series of signboards have been installed outside several villages, prohibiting the entry of "non-Hindus," "Rohingya Muslims," and hawkers, sparking a wave of controversy and prompting police action.

The incident has raised concerns about communal targeting, especially toward the Muslim community, and has led the Uttarakhand police to launch an investigation, reported Hindustan Times.

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Uttarakhand Director General of Police (DGP) Abhinav Kumar has responded to these reports, instructing local police and intelligence units to verify the presence of such signboards.

"We have asked the intelligence and our local unit to look into such reports. If any such thing is found true, we will take appropriate action," said Kumar.

Meanwhile, Rudraprayag circle officer Prabodh Kumar Ghildiyal confirmed that several of these signboards have already been removed and that efforts are underway to identify the individuals responsible for putting them up.

"It came to light that such boards have come up in some villages. We have been removing them. Some have already been removed from a few villages. We are also trying to ascertain the identities of those who have put up these boards," said Ghildiyal.

The signboards in question were installed outside villages such as Nyalsu, Shersi, Gaurikund, Triyuginarayan, and several others.

The text on one signboard outside Nyalsu village, written in Hindi, declared: "It is prohibited for non-Hindus/Rohingya Muslims and hawkers to do business/roam around in the village. If found anywhere in the village, punitive action will be taken."

The board also claimed that the directive had come from the gram sabha, which is a local village council.

However, Pramod Singh, the pradhan (village head) of Nyalsu, clarified that the boards were put up by the villagers themselves, not the gram panchayat.

He explained that the reason for installing the boards was to regulate the entry of hawkers who come to the village without proper police verification.

"The boards have been installed to prevent hawkers from entering the villages without a police verification. Most men of our village are dependent on the yatra and therefore they live in Gaurikund and Sonprayag during the yatra. The women are in the houses alone. Many hawkers come to the village without a valid ID and police verification. Those with verification have been regularly visiting the village, they are not stopped. If hawkers commit any crime and flee, they can't be traced," he stated.

Chandni Devi, the pradhan of Maikhanda village, confirmed a similar situation in her village. "We don't want outsiders to come into our village since there is a threat to our children and women," she claimed.

However, Soni Devi, the pradhan of Gaurikund village, initially confirmed the presence of such boards but later retracted her statement, saying: "No such boards have come up in our village. Since I am away from the village, I confirmed it now."

While it remains unclear exactly when these signboards were erected, the issue gained broader attention after two Muslim delegations from the Muslim Seva Sangathan and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) raised concerns during a meeting with DGP Kumar on September 5.

The delegations expressed alarm over what they perceive as an increasing trend of anti-minority incidents in the state. Naeem Qureshi of the Muslim Seva Sangathan, in a memorandum to the police, highlighted these concerns, stating: "It has been found that on petty issues or any alleged criminal or anti-social activity by any Muslim, processions are taken out by right-wing organisations targeting the entire Muslim community in the towns and cities of the hills. Shops belonging to the members of the minority community are ransacked and looted and Muslims threatened to leave the state... there has been planned attempts bordering on 'Islamophobia' to harass, humiliate, and threaten Muslims with an evil and unlawful design of the ethnic cleansing in the state."

The tension in Rudraprayag comes in the wake of growing communal incidents across Uttarakhand. On September 1, violence erupted in Nandanagar town of Chamoli district after a protest demanding the arrest of a Muslim man accused of indecent exposure escalated into mob violence.

Properties and shops belonging to Muslim families were attacked. The accused was arrested, but in the days following the violence, reports emerged that at least 10 Muslim families had fled Nandanagar in fear.

Ahmad Hasan, a BJP minority wing functionary who has lived in Nandanagar for three decades, recounted the experience: "We had to flee the town after we received death threats. After a crowd of hundreds of violent protesters attacked our shops and people from our community, we walked for around 20 kilometres in the middle of night to save our lives. It was raining, and the weather was stormy. But we were desperate to save our lives. We have come to our native place in Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh)."

However, the Chamoli superintendent of police, Sarvesh Panwar, denied reports of families fleeing, stating: "Nandanagar is safe. We have deployed additional force to maintain law and order. We have received no reports of Muslim families leaving the town."

Uttarakhand has seen other communal flare-ups in recent years, including an incident in Purola, Uttarkashi, last year where posters threatening Muslim shopkeepers were posted after two men, including a Muslim, were arrested for attempting to abduct a minor girl.

While the men were later acquitted by the courts, the communal tensions have continued to simmer in various parts of the state.