New Delhi: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is rapidly becoming another poster boy of Hindutva.
In the latest of a string of moves under his chief ministership that political leaders say are furthering the Hindutva agenda, the state assembly on Wednesday approved the Uttarakhand Minority Educational Institutions Bill.
The new law, once it gets the Governor’s approval, will replace the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act, 2016, and extend minority status benefits to institutions run by the Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi communities, in addition to Muslims. The government describes the new legislation as “more comprehensive”.
In a social media post, Dhami said, “Today (on Wednesday), the ‘Uttarakhand Minority Education Bill-2025’ was passed in the Assembly. Till now, the recognition of minority institutions was limited only to the Muslim community.”
The new bill is part of a pattern over the past two years. The Dhami government has already implemented the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), which replaced religion-specific civil laws and has cracked down on religious conversion and encroachment, as well as so-called “land jihad” and “thook (spit) jihad”.
The Uttarakhand government under Dhami has also targeted what it calls “illegal madrasas”. And earlier this month, the cabinet approved making the anti-conversion law more stringent, with punishment being increased to a maximum of 20 years with a penalty of 10 lakh.
Moreover, the chief minister has, in many of his speeches, repeatedly stressed that “land jihad”, “thook jihad” and conversion will not be allowed in the “Devbhoomi” (holy land) of Uttarakhand.
The government has also been taking action against religious structures and encroachments on forest land and has taken action against several mazars (mausoleums).
A BJP leader said Dhami has been concentrating on the party’s core issues, be it the implementation of UCC or initiating action against perpetrators of “love” and “land jihad”.
“Uttarakhand became the first state to implement UCC and it has been done in a smooth manner. Many states are now planning to bring in similar legislation based on Uttarakhand. Dhami has been taking decisive action whenever it is required, and the central leadership is aware of it,” said the leader.
“It would not be an exaggeration to say that the state is becoming the BJP’s new Hindutva laboratory,” the leader added.
Roots in the Sangh
The 49-year-old Dhami has his roots in the Sangh Parivar and started his political career as a worker of the Sangh’s student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
His first official assignment came in 2002 when the state’s second chief minister, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, appointed him as his officer on special duty (OSD).
Following the BJP’s loss in 2002, Dhami became the first president of the Uttarakhand BJP’s Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) for two consecutive terms from 2002 to 2008.
Like Yogi & Himanta
Experts say the BJP government under Dhami in his second term has focused more on Hindutva issues, drawing parallels with the chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh and Assam.
Dehradun-based political analyst Jai Singh Rawat told ThePrint it seems like Dhami is in direct competition with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. “We have been witnessing how the Assam government has been focusing on such issues aimed at targeting the minorities and the way Dhami has been taking action one after the other, which are also specifically aimed at the Muslim community.”
“There is clearly a competition to emerge as the Hindutva icon. Dhami unse aage nikalna chah rahein hai (Dhami seems to be wanting to get ahead of him),” he added.
Rawat further said that Dhami’s moves seem aimed at consolidating the Hindu vote. “Dhami has understood that with 80 percent of the population Hindu, he needs to cater to them. Which is why, while in his first tenure, there was a bit of focus on development, creating infrastructure, all that is now not the priority.”
“For instance, phrases like ‘thook’ and ‘land jihad’ are clearly aimed at creating a certain imagery in the minds of the people, and they have realised that this is what will get them votes,” he added.
Last year in October, the Dhami government decided to impose a fine of Rs 25,000 to Rs 1 lakh on those found spitting on food items and drinks following Dhami’s comment on “thook jihad”.
Both Dhami and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also issued strict directives to dhabas and restaurants along the Kanwar Yatra route to clearly display the owner’s name and identity on their signboards, a key demand of the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.
Shopkeepers were told to display valid licenses and identity cards prominently at their establishments, failing which strict action would be initiated against them.
Another senior BJP leader, who requested anonymity, was more cautious, saying Dhami has been focused on creating a brand for himself and has been busy positioning himself as the “poster boy of the RSS”, but the focus needed to be on development.
“UCC is an important legislation and it was required too in Uttarakhand but somehow the state is now more in the news related to communal issues or the government coming up with some scheme or the other, which are more optics. The way Uttarakhand has been hit by one calamity after the other, the focus needs to be more on developmental works,” said the BJP leader.
But Uttarakhand BJP’s general secretary Aditya Kothari defended the government’s decisions, saying a demographic shift has been taking place in the state, and attributed it to the influx of people from the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.
“As far as the minority institution issue is concerned, the government is coming up with a Bill to ensure all minority institutions will have a place,” he said.
“At the same time, issues of ‘love’ and ‘thook’ jihad are related to maintaining the sanctity of the Devbhoomi. Such incidents have been increasing in the past few months, and especially from neighbouring areas like Saharanpur, Bareilly. Such incidents affect the peace of the state and stern measures are required. We should not politicise it. Rather, we should commend the work being done by the chief minister,” Kothari added.
‘Selective targeting of a community’
The Opposition has criticised the Dhami government’s move to scrap the madrasa board, calling the BJP “narrow-minded”. The state has never witnessed such “communal politics” as is being carried out under the Dhami government, it says.
Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat said ‘madrasa’ is an Urdu word and “Urdu is the product of the Ganga-Jamuni culture”.
“This is nothing but selective targeting of a community. It seems that the chief minister lacks basic knowledge and seems to link madrasa with Muslims. During the freedom fight, many stalwarts who contributed to it include those who are a product of madrasa. First they sealed madrasas on some pretext or the other and now in the garb of streamlining it they are targeting them once again,” said Uttarakhand Congress spokesperson Garima Dasuani.
She further said that the BJP is targeting the Muslim community but the day is not far when linguistic minorities will be on their list. “They are simply trying to restrict madrasa education without even realising that apart from religious education they impart scientific education too. Dhami ji first had problems with masjids, then mazars and now madrasas.”
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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