Uttarakhand news: Threatening posters in Purola force some Muslims to leave town
1 min read 06 Jun 2023, 10:57 PM ISTThreatening posters asking Muslim traders in Purola town, Uttarakhand to vacate their shops immediately were pasted following an attempted abduction. The posters, which warned of dire consequences if demands were not met, have been removed and those responsible are being identified.
PremiumThreatening posters were pasted on shops owned by Muslim traders in Purola town of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, asking them to vacate the place immediately. The posters came days after two people, including a person from a minority community, tried to abduct a minor girl from the area. The locals foiled the abduction attempt and the accused were also arrested later.
"Love jihadis are informed that they should vacate the shops ahead of the maha panchayat to be held on June 15. If you don't do this, only time will tell what will happen," the posters read.
The Muslim traders expressed fear of opening their shops and claimed that some people have left the town. There are 650-700 shops in Purola's main market, of which 30-40 are owned by Muslims.
Police appeals to maintain law and order
Uttarkashi Superintendent of Police Arpan Yaduvanshi said that the posters are removed and the anti-social elements who pasted them are being identified. The police also held meetings with the local Vyapar Mandal and public representatives and appealed to them to maintain law and order.
Right-wing Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Virendra Rana said that the posters were pasted by locals. "The posters were pasted by locals who want members of a particular community to leave the town to maintain peace and social amity. They came here from outside to do business but are now targeting Hindu girls and women," Rana said.
The police have also registered a case against unidentified people of ‘Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan’ under charges of disrupting the peace of the town and provoking religious sentiments of a particular community, the local SHO Khajan Singh Chauhan said.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reacted to the development and termed it "horrifying."
"Horrifying. This cannot be what we have reduced ourselves to. Gandhiji would be ashamed of the India we have created," Shashi Tharoor said.
(With agency inputs)
