Uttarakhand initiates a verification drive to examine the credentials of settlers.
Kautilya Singh & Sheo S Jaiswal | TNN | Dehradun & Haridwar | Apr 20, 2022:: Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday issued instructions to conduct a statewide verification drive “to check the credentials of people who have settled in Uttarakhand but belong to other states”.
The move came a few days after Haridwar Dharam Sansad organizer, Swami Anand Swaroop, wrote a letter to the CM seeking amendments in the state’s Land Act to “ensure that non-Hindus do not own land, build houses, or conduct businesses in the Char Dham region”.
The drive, the CM’s office said, will check for ‘unauthorised people staying in the Himalayan state.’ When asked if such a drive was meant to identify non-Hindus as being demanded by seers in Haridwar, Dhami told TOI, “Our state has a distinct culture which should be preserved. The government will run a drive to ensure this. Under this drive, we will find out people whose antecedents are suspicious and verify their backgrounds. We will try to ensure such people do not stay in Uttarakhand and disturb its peace.”
Notably, the Char Dham Yatra to the four Himalayan shrines of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath is set to start on May 3. The state government has also decided to conduct a verification drive of people coming to the state for the yatra. The move is being initiated to “prevent any untoward incident” during the annual pilgrimage, sources in the CM’s office said. They claimed that “some persons use the Char Dham route for recreational activities rather than undertaking the pilgrimage in a respectful manner”, which they said “was not right and needs to be checked.”
Meanwhile, Swaroop, who was one of the organisers of the Dharam Sansad last year, in which hate speeches were made against the minority community, claimed on Tuesday that the state government has agreed to the seers’ demand to restrict non-Hindus in the Char Dham region and the verification drive was part of the process. He said members of his organisation, Kali Sena , a militant group of seers, will also be deputed at the state’s borders “to ensure no non Hindu enters the Char Dham region.” “Non-Hindus are spreading in the area, conducting businesses, indulging in criminal activities, and bringing a bad name to the sacred region,” he alleged.
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Courtesy: TOI & News 18.
