Communal Harmony in Himachal Pradesh Under Threat

Hate is being deliberately spread in the Himalayan state by political vested interests out to destroy harmony. The instance of a gruesome murder of a Dalit youth allegedly by a family from the minority community in Salooni area of Chamba is being given a communal colour with protests marked by venom being reported from different parts of the state.

This is despite the fact that a case was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, arrests made, and weapons used in the crime reportedly recovered. The financial transactions of the accused along with the allegations of land grab against the accused are being probed.

This incident has come close on the heels of the continuous hounding of a Muslim doctor in Una by ‘fringe groups’ over a social media post that is being attributed to him. The doctor has been given anticipatory bail by the Himachal Pradesh High Court, further extended to June 26. But protests marked by closure of markets and inflammatory speeches continue.

In the Chamba incidernt the dismembered body of Manohar was recovered on June 8 from bags dumped in a stream. He had reportedly gone missing on June 6. Investigations led the Police to one Musafir Hussain, his wife Farida and an alleged accomplice Shabir.

Manohar was allegedly having an affair with Hussain’s niece. Thereafter a mob had gone on to burn Hussain’s house. There have been arrests made in this matter as well.

At the political level, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seized the opportunity to target the ruling Congress government under Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on the breakdown of law and order and has continued to rake up the issue in various towns and districts.

The charge is being led by the former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and the state BJP chief Dr Rajeev Bindal. Thakur has been demanding a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the matter.

The issue gathered further storm when the BJP leaders were prevented from going to Manohar’s village and meeting his family.

This led to the party holding demonstrations across the 12 district headquarters on June 17 accusing the government of being ‘anti democratic’.

In a parallel mode, the Hindutva groups have also been holding demonstrations while spinning anti Muslim yarn.

Pointing to the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls and the recent poll debacles of the saffron party, observers say that in this case the BJP and the Hindutva groups are not only trying to consolidate the Hindu voters but also woo back the Dalits who have been angry with them over various cases of atrocities and assaults.

“Everyone understands that the motive behind these developments is garnering political mileage by polarising communities and castes. No one cares about the fall out which is reflected in children missing their schools, a prevailing sense of fear and the people even refraining from visiting government hospitals in the towns.

There is a campaign underway calling for an economic boycott of Muslims. Crime is a law and order issue that needs to be dealt with firmly but it should not be given communal and caste colours,” said a Muslim social activist from Chamba.

Even Sukhu has expressed his displeasure over the protests by the BJP saying that this was the first case of its kind in the country where all the accused have been apprehended and were currently in police custody.

The Chief Minister said that all the accused involved in this murder were arrested within 24 hours. He said that the BJP's persistence in protesting despite the arrests and the government's acceptance of their demand for an inquiry by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seems ‘illogical’.

He further said that the BJP, being the ruling party at the Centre, could easily initiate an NIA investigation by a mere phone call from the Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur. However, the BJP is exploiting the situation for political gain, with an eye on the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he added.

He said that despite arrests of all involved in the case, the BJP's youth wing, Yuva Morcha, after five days of the incident set ablaze the houses of the accused.

"Despite assurances to the people given time and again by me that all persons involved in the murder case would be brought to justice, it is beyond the perception that why such protests were being held despite arrests made, which seems that the BJP was doing dirty politics,”Sukhu added.

“It is blatantly clear that the BJP is targeting votes for the 2024 elections. It needs to answer why there was no call for a special court when a Dalit activist Kedar Singh Jindan was run over by a vehicle by upper caste men in 2018.

“Its role in amending the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and framing anti conversion laws that have targeted mainly Dalits have been questionable. Were the houses of accused in cases of crime belonging to the right wing elements ever torched?” asked CPM leader Sanjay Chauhan.

Observers point out that there were several instances other than the Jindan murder that led to the Dalits getting miffed with the majoritarian organisations. These include the reported segregation of Dalit students of a government run school in Kullu who were made to sit in a place meant for horses during the telecast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during one of his ‘Pariksha Par Charcha’ broadcasts in 2018.

Then there was the instance of a Dalit youth being beaten to death in Nerwa over a traffic brawl in the same year. Some studies say that even otherwise Dalits continue to face discrimination in many forms in their daily life.

It needs to be underlined that Himachal Pradesh has the second highest concentration of Dalits in terms of percentage of population after Punjab with the figure standing around 28 percent.

Meanwhile, in the Una incident the doctor continues to be hounded to the extent that he has been unable to open his hospital in Mehatpur for more than a fortnight now. Neither has he returned home to the city.

Since things are fast moving towards the next Lok Sabha polls, there is a common feeling that the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh needs to learn from Karnataka where the party leaders are bringing in firm measures for peace and harmony. Congress sources are of the view that speaking in muffled tones will not help, and as communalism has never had a place in the hill state it can be easily challenged and countered.