Won't let Uttarakhand's demography to be disturbed at any cost: CM Dhami

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday said his government is committed to not allowing any disturbance to the demography of the state and asked the people to protect its identity with the same zeal as was shown during the statehood movement.

Paying tributes to the martyrs of the Rampur Tiraha firing incident on its 30th anniversary, the chief minister said that "demographic change in Uttarakhand is a real threat" that needs to be addressed.

The introduction of a strict anti-conversion law in the state, and a massive anti-encroachment drive which has seen around 5000 acres of land in the state being freed are aimed at maintaining the state's demography, he said addressing a gathering at Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar district of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Besides these measures which have already been taken, the state government is also preparing to bring a stricter land law which will make it difficult for outsiders to buy unlimited land in Uttarakhand.

The chief minister said the creation of Uttarakhand was a result of the sacrifices of martyrs of the Rampur Tiraha incident.

"We cannot ever pay off their debt. Their sacrifices took the statehood movement to its logical conclusion. Our responsibility now is to develop and build the Uttarakhand of their dreams. We won't rest till we achieve that," Dhami said.

Seven people were killed and several injured in police firing on activists who were on their way to Delhi from Rishikesh to raise their demand for a separate state of Uttarakhand on October 2, 1994.

This incident in Rampur Tiraha was seen as a watershed moment in the movement for a separate state which finally led to the creation of Uttarakhand out of Uttar Pradesh in 2000.

"We need to fulfil the duty of protecting our demography in almost the same manner in which we fought during the movement for a separate state. It is our commitment not to allow its demography to get disturbed at any cost. It is necessary to retain Uttarakhand's original identity," Dhami said.

Even people from outside Uttarakhand do not want Devbhoomi's demography to change, the BJP leader said.

Dhami also announced that the statues of all the martyrs of Rampur Tiraha will be built at the site.

The chief minister paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on their birth anniversary on Wednesday.

Earlier, he offered floral tributes at the portraits of the two leaders at his official residence in Dehradun.