Communal tension: Traders shut shops in U’khand town

DEHRADUN: Muslim traders kept their shops shuttered in Ghansali town of Uttarakhand’s Tehri Garhwal district on Tuesday amid concern over the possible spread of communal tension a day after a young Muslim man was found with a minor Hindu girl in a hotel, sparking calls by Hindu traders for the ouster of Muslim settlers. A mob on Monday thrashed the Muslim man after finding him with the minor inside a hotel, and ransacked 13 shops of Muslim traders.

DEHRADUN: Muslim traders kept their shops shuttered in Ghansali town of Uttarakhand’s Tehri Gahrwal district on Tuesday amid concern over the possible spread of communal tension a day after a young Muslim man was found with a minor Hindu girl in a hotel, sparking calls by Hindu traders for the ouster of Muslim settlers who had come to the region from elsewhere.

On Monday afternoon, a 250strong mob caught the Muslim man, identified as Azad Alvi, with the minor inside a local hotel. The mob thrashed the man and paraded him with a garland of shoes around his neck before the police rescued him and took him to a police station. The mob also ransacked 13 shops of Muslim traders.

The girl was also taken to the police station and handed over to her parents, who were called there. Alvi, who is from Bijnour district of Uttar Pradesh, was living in a rented unit along with his family and running a barber shop in a Ghansali market.

Ghansali, which is a small town of about 7,000, has no history of any communal tension. Monday’s incident was the first. The area in which the incident took place has about 300 shops including 25-30 belonging to Muslim traders, most of whom are from Uttar Pradesh.

Communal tensions, that were once unheard of in Uttarakhand, are a recent phenomenon in the state. In July 2017, Hindu-Muslim tension erupted when a local Muslim boy allegedly posted an objectionable post of the Kedarnath shrine on Facebook. In another incident, also in July 2017, communal tension erupted in Mussoorie after a local Kashmiri trader allegedly shared a Pakistani patriotic song on social media.

“We are in fear as we never expected such an incident in the area which happened for the first time. Don’t know if we would be able to carry on our business as usual or not in the future,” said a Muslim trader, Zulfikar Mansuri who is from Bijnour district of UP and runs a furniture shop.

Mansuri, who has been at his home in Bijnour since July 25, claimed that the mob ransacked his furniture shop after breaking its lock on Monday.

“I was informed about the incident by some of my fellow Hindu traders who always helped me. After Monday’s incident, we are afraid as we have heard that some people have demanded our ouster from the area...,” he said.

Local Hindu trader and rightwing activist Saheb Singh Komain said residents didn’t want Muslims from outside to settle in the town. “There are at least 80-90 Muslim individuals from outside living here... Some of them have been indulging in drugs and trying to trap innocent Hindu girls of the area,” he said.

Sub-divisional officer of Ghansali, DR Chouhan, said the situation in the area was under control with the deployment of the police. “We have assured the Muslim traders of security and asked them to open their shops without fear,” he added.

Local station house officer Kishan Tamta said Alvi had been booked for rape under the Indian Penal Code, noting that the girl was a minor.