Uttarakhand continues to be in the news these days. Of course, many liberals target it without understanding the basic issues of the hills. The crisis there is deepening. An already threatened ecology and a worrying demographic trend have pushed hill communities into a state of anxiety, with negative population growth among native hill people. Outsiders are buying land and commercial properties at a rapid pace. The hill people have been demanding a land law that protects their identity and nativity, while also safeguarding their legitimate political rights, which are steadily being eroded. If this pattern continues, the hill people of Uttarakhand will become a minority in the state they fought so valiantly to create.
Apart from this, the murder and exploitation of Ankita Bhandari, the growing issue of human–animal conflict, numerous cases of killings of innocent citizens, the unchecked rampage of so-called “development,” and prolonged dry winters in the Himalayas pose the biggest challenges. Yet these real concerns of Uttarakhand’s people—along with the unresolved issue of the state capital—are rarely discussed by the Babas or the political leadership. Instead, the Babas have jumped headlong into turning Uttarakhand into a Hindutva laboratory. None of these Babas, nor the BJP, has seriously addressed the demographic crisis facing the hill population. Political representation of hill people has already declined in the state assembly and will be further reduced after the next delimitation exercise.
The BJP, Congress, and other parties have all sidetracked these issues. Uttarakhand is now being converted into a state of hatred against Muslims. The merciless beating of a Kashmiri Muslim youth in Vikas Nagar is horrific and deserves unconditional condemnation.
The BJP’s modus operandi in Uttarakhand mirrors what it did in Assam. In Assam, the issue was illegal outsiders, but it was converted into a Hindu-versus-Muslim narrative. The same is happening in Uttarakhand. The outsiders who have bought land, built resorts, and amassed wealth are largely not Muslims, yet it is poor Muslims—those engaged in menial and mechanical work—who are being targeted. How many Muslims actually own restaurants or major businesses in the Uttarakhand hills?
The core issue is clear: there is a deep chasm between the hills and the plains in Uttarakhand. The Congress has failed to understand hill sentiments, as many of its leaders who lost elections in the hills shifted to the plains and got elected from there. Unlike Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand shows a stark division between hills and plains. Culturally, they are different, and their demographic patterns differ sharply. Several areas adjacent to Saharanpur, Bijnor, and Moradabad—with significant Muslim populations—were included in Uttarakhand at its formation. Naturally, Muslims became part of the state. Yet BJP leaders now raise alarmist rhetoric about a growing Muslim population in the hills.
The Uttarakhand government must order a caste census. This will expose who actually votes for and funds Hindutva, who owns land and hotels, and who controls economic power in the state. Which jaati dominates the media, academic institutions, bureaucracy, agricultural land, and political system in Uttarakhand? Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and his team can clarify how many Muslims actually hold such power. Blaming one community for all the state’s problems is a farce and a deliberate attempt to hide the real issues.
The people of Uttarakhand are demanding justice for Ankita Bhandari. However, the sentiments of the hill people are often not shared by those in the plains. Nor do the Babas shouting Hindutva at the top of their voices show any respect for Pahadi asmita or culture. Pahadi culture is increasingly being subordinated to a monolithic Hindutva ideology emanating from Nagpur and Gujarat, with Muslims becoming the easiest targets.
I do not subscribe to those so-called liberals who, without understanding the crisis, portray Uttarakhand’s people as brutal or barbaric. Such posturing—often aimed at international recognition—must be condemned. Do not work for awards; work for the people. The same Hindu–Muslim politics was played in Assam and failed, ultimately strengthening Himanta Biswa Sarma. Uttarakhand’s crisis reflects the Congress party’s political immaturity, its transformation into a B-team of the BJP, and the ignorance of secular elites who reduce every issue to a Hindu–Muslim binary. This binary never defined hill society; it is the BJP that is deliberately imposing it. Communal tensions are largely concentrated in the plains, not the mountain regions.
Finally, recent statements by priests prohibiting Muslims are deliberate attempts to divert attention from real issues. Why would a Muslim visit shrines like Badrinath or Kedarnath? While religious institutions have the right to frame their own rules, no Indian citizen can be denied entry into a state. One may restrict access to a temple, but not to the state itself, as per the Constitution. After all, Uttarakhand’s people live outside the state and abroad. What if they faced similar treatment elsewhere? No state can exist in isolation. Respecting others’ faith is essential. Romanticising one’s faith while demonising others will not help. Muslims are not destroying Uttarakhand’s mountains and rivers.
The Uttarakhand government should release a comprehensive status paper on the socio-economic and political clout of various communities and jaatis. The truth must be laid bare so that no one is allowed to vitiate the state’s atmosphere. Every citizen, irrespective of faith, has the constitutional right to live with dignity and religious freedom. Uttarakhand’s future depends not only on ecological harmony but also on communal harmony.
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*Human rights defender
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