Adding fuel to an already volatile communal situation in the country, the Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami – who is a strong supporter of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in the state, said that his government will bulldoze all the shrines that he believed was built illegally to promote ‘Land Jihad’ in the state.
While addressing a gathering in Kaladhungi area in Nainital, on Friday the CM Pushkar Singh reportedly announced that the Uttarakhand administration will demolish all the shrines that were built over encroached land.
It is pertinent to mention here that, the Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami put forth the proposal on introducing uniform civil code in Uttarakhand during the first ever cabinet meeting shortly after forming the government in March 2022.
Moving according to the saffron party’s ideology, he was heard saying at the occasion that “During the elections we have promised the people to impose Uniform Civil Code in the state.”
“Our state shares the borders with two international borderlines,” he said, adding that “In such a situation, there is a need to have an egalitarian law in Uttarakhand that is accepted by all sections of the society. To achieve this, we will constitute a committee of experts from the legal fraternity as well as from the society.”
Now, the Chief Minister come-up with another hateful yoke on Friday where he reportedly said that “We will bulldoze all the shrines built illegally in the state. This is new Uttarakhand. Leave alone encroaching upon the land, no one should dare thinking this way here in Uttarakhand.
“The authorities have identified over a thousand illegal structures raised as Mazaars (Shrines) and alike. There are over a thousand places in the state where such shrines were came-up but no remains were found beneath the surface,” Pushkar claimed.
“We are not against anyone, but will not allow encroachments in the name of shrines and other structures. We will not allow “land Jihad” to flourish here in Uttarakhand. We believe in the law,” the CM said.
