New Delhi: The Pushkar Singh Dhami-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand has intensified its crackdown on “illegal” religious structures and encroachments on forest land in the state.
A senior government official told ThePrint Thursday that since May this year, “465 mazars (mausoleums), 45 temples and two encroachments by the gurdwara committee have been removed”.
While the opposition Congress has criticised the drive as a bid to worsen communal polarisation, the BJP has denied that there is any “religious angle” to it, and said it was being undertaken to remove illegal encroachments.
According to the records of the state forest department, 11,814 hectares of forest land has been encroached upon.
Sources in the state government said that soon after Dhami was sworn in as CM for the second time in May last year, he had instructed the forest department to identify unauthorised mazars (mausoleums), mosques, temples and churches that had come up on forest land. The drive finally began in May this year.
“Through the drive, 2,508 acres of forest land have been freed from encroachment. The action was taken by divisional forest officers,” the senior government official said. He added that most encroachments have been removed from Dehradun, Nainital, Haridwar and Uddham Singh Nagar districts.
Dr Parag Madhukar Dhakate, chief conservator of forests and nodal officer for the anti-encroachment drive, told ThePrint that the government of Uttarakhand had taken measures to address encroachment on both forest land and other state land in accordance with the directives of the Supreme Court.
“Actions have been taken to remove unlawful encroachments such as religious structures, shops, eateries, farms, and residences, in compliance with legal provisions. Given that the state’s environment and economy are closely intertwined with its forested areas, it becomes crucial to safeguard and preserve these valuable natural parcels,” he told ThePrint Thursday.
“Mazars mentioned/notified by the Waqf Board have not been touched… only illegal religious structures have been removed irrespective of the religion. It’s not a political action at all…district forest officers have given notices to the persons concerned…some mazar managers have even given a reply,” he added.
‘Mazar jihad’
In April this year, in an interview with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s Hindi mouthpiece Panchjanya, Dhami had claimed that “anti-social elements emerge” from mazars and that his government would take “strict action” against such structures.
“It is indeed true that more than 1,000 such mazars have been built on forest land. These mazars are not of peer babas (holy men) but are a part of mazar jihad and anti-social elements emerge from them. We’re also trying to find under which officer’s tenure these unauthorised mazars were built,” he wrote.
The following month, when the drive began and action was initiated against the ‘Thapli Baba’ mazar that stood in the vicinity of the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, a huge crowd gathered to protest against the demolition. However, forest officials alleged that the shrine was illegally built on forest land and razed it.
The opposition Congress has termed the anti-encroachment drive “an exercise aimed at polarisation” in Uttarakhand ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections — a charge the BJP has denied. The Congress has also characterised the drive as a continuation of the move to bring in a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Speaking to ThePrint Thursday, Sujata Paul, Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson, said: “Basically, this exercise is being done for polarisation. This is in sync with the move to bring in the UCC in the state. They always do this Hindu-Muslim drama before elections. Removing encroachment is fine, but targeting a specific community to create a rift in society is not acceptable.”
Responding to the allegation, BJP spokesperson Manvir Singh said: “In our state, Dhamiji has been taking several steps to maintain the sanctity of dev bhoomi (land of gods). Removing illegal encroachments is part of that.”
“The drive to remove (illegal) structures including mazars has been undertaken without any discrimination. There is no religious angle to it. Action has already been taken and in the coming days, more such exercises will be undertaken,” he added.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: ‘Love jihad to land jihad’ — how a small Uttarakhand town became epicentre of polarisation politics