If Uttarakhand govt fails to take action we will protest: Barelvi cleric on Purola incidents

Bareilly (UP): Barelvi cleric and head of Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC) Maulana Tauqir Raza has said a protest will be launched in Uttarakhand if the state government fails to take action against those allegedly harassing Muslims living in Purola for generations.

Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.

The alleged bid to abduct the girl was foiled by locals. But after that incident, threatening posters appeared on the shutters of shops owned by members of the minority community in Purola asking them to leave the town immediately.

Speaking to the media at his residence here on Friday evening, the cleric said, "We do not wear bangles. We should not be forced to react. If the Uttarakhand government fails to take any action, we will go there and gherao the government."

Uttarakhand Waqf Board chairman Shadab Shams, Laksar MLA Mohammad Shahzad and Haj Committee president Khatib Ahmad, among others, met Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami at his official residence on Monday and claimed that Muslims living in Purola for generations were being "harassed" by anti-social elements and forced to migrate from the town.

At least 42 shops belonging to Muslims have reportedly been closed in Purola since May 26.

Posters were pasted by unidentified people on shops owned by Muslims, asking them to leave the town or prepare to face consequences.