Haldwani, a small but bustling town in Uttarakhand, is the gateway to the Himalayas and ascent to tourist spots like Nainital and Bhimtal. Today, it is a far more dramatic dot on Bharat’s map.
On February 9, the town with an 18.55 per cent Muslim population erupted with violence which left two dead and 250 injured. Islamist mobs attacked a demolition squad with accompanying cops and mediapersons when it went to demolish an illegally built mosque and madrassa. The mob hurled petrol bombs and stones, nearly set policemen on fire, and used women and children as human shields.
It seemed straight out of the Gaza playbook.
Drone shots later revealed that the violence was unprovoked and planned. Images showed heaps of stones stored on rooftops.
The very next day, 100 km away in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, another Islamist mob attacked the police with stones after Muslim cleric Tauqeer Raza was detained for giving a ‘jail bharo’ over the Gyanvapi mosque issue. Raza did not forget to mention the Haldwani mosque demolition as ghee on fire.
Earlier in the week, a mob surrounded a police station in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh after a dispute between a tailor, his customer, and a cleric who intervened. A man in the crowd, Akram Khan, took a loudspeaker and threatened violence.
Are these completely unrelated incidents? Or is there a pattern?
The Left-Islamist ecosystem has been shaken by the Pran Pratishtha at the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. The legal challenge to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, built after demolishing a part of the Kashi Viswanath temple, has created a further flutter. The mood of the nation after the Ram temple opening and a fast-crumbling Opposition alliance point to another election victory for Narendra Modi.
What does one do when one is legally defeated, electorally routed, and morally on the wrong side of issues?
One takes to the streets, of course, and with wanton violence, tries to overturn court orders or people’s verdict.
For seven decades since Independence, a perverted secularism actively supported by political parties has signalled to Muslims that they should never peacefully coexist with the majority, must always be in victimhood mode, and heed the law of the land only if it suits them. The community has been told that its power lies in existing as an impoverished and irascible mass.
And right before the 2024 general elections, street mobs springing alive could point to a concerted attempt at polarisation, and to provoke the Modi government and BJP state government into making a mistake. Activists like Harsh Mander and Yogendra Yadav had in clear words urged street action to counter the legitimate electoral mandate.
Haldwani, Bareilly and Damoh could be trailers of a much bigger plot. The State has to handle it with a firm hand, but without falling into well-laid traps which could lead to giving the miscreants public sympathy.
Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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