Superintendent of Police Sarvesh Panwar said police were “‘not aware” of any such incident
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Fifteen Muslim families, most of them residents of Khansar town in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district for decades, have been served an ultimatum to leave the town by December 31 or face the consequences.
The warning was issued by a traders’ body after its meeting on Wednesday. A resolution was passed in this regard at the Vyapar Mandal meeting, following a ‘chetna’ (awareness) rally in Maithan market of Khansar on the same day, a report in The Times of India said.
Khansar town is about 260 km from Dehradun, the state’s capital.
The newspaper claims to have accessed a video of the rally in which the participants, mostly local traders, could be purportedly seen raising provocative slogans.
“During the meeting, it was decided that all such families should leave before Dec 31. Failing to do so will attract legal and punitive action not only against these families but also against those who rent out their houses or establishments to them. Such landlords will also face a penalty of Rs 10,000,” Virendra Singh, president of Maithan Seva Samiti, was quoted by the newspaper.
“Moreover, it has been decided to prohibit all hawkers from entering villages in Khansar valley. Any hawker caught doing business will face a penalty of Rs 10,000 and legal action. These decisions have been taken to prevent any criminal incident against Hindu women by members of the minority community in the wake of similar incidents in other towns,” he added.
The report said the newspaper has a copy of the resolution mentioning the two decisions by the traders’ body.
A minority community member, requesting anonymity, said, “None of us were ever involved in any criminal incident. The action is not just an attempt to disturb communal harmony but also to oust us due to vested business interests.”
Chamoli Superintendent of Police Sarvesh Panwar said police were “‘not aware” of any such incident. “We will investigate the matter and take appropriate legal action if needed,” Panwar was cited in the report as saying.
Khansar Valley comprises 11 gram panchayats. In September, Hindutva groups took out a procession in Gopeshwar town of Chamoli district following violence against Muslim shops at Nandghat. They sought verification of all “outsiders” following allegations of harassment allegedly by a Muslim youth. At least 10 families from the minority community, including a BJP functionary, were forced to flee after receiving death threats.
