Himachal Pradesh Grapples With Increasing Divisiveness

An ecosystem of hate and distrust is being fuelled around the hill state of Himachal Pradesh. There are ominous warnings emerging for the state that is known for peace and being a much sought after tourist destination.

Concerned citizens feel that it is high time the administration and the government make serious efforts to counter the forces of hate, instead of dealing with instances in a piecemeal manner.

There are attempts being made to give a ‘Punjab versus Himachal’ colour to small and isolated instances of petty nature. This has become more evident after film actor turned Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut was slapped, by a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Kulwinder Kaur. Now, there are attempts to see every incident allegedly involving Punjabis through the prism of the ‘slap gate’ episode.

On the other hand, hate is also being peddled against the Muslim community with impunity by the foot soldiers of Hindutva Right Wing. They continue to give a communal colour to issues that are primarily socio-economic in nature.

One can take a couple of recent instances to elaborate and explain what is happening on the ground. A NonResident Indian (NRI) family from Punjab was allegedly assaulted at Khajjiar near Dalhousie in Chamba district on June 11 by some locals over parking of vehicles.

Punjab Cabinet minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal issued a statement after meeting the couple at an Amritsar hospital condemning the episode. He said that “every day thousands of people from Punjab visit tourist places like Shimla, Manali, Kasauli and Dalhousie.

The economy of Himachal Pradesh is also heavily dependent on tourism and such incidents will create fear and doubt in the minds of tourists. Therefore, the Himachal government should seriously consider this incident and take strict action against the culprits.”

The complainant Kawaljit Singh alleged that he and his family were attacked by around 100 people. He also alleged ‘regional discrimination’ and accused the Himachal police personnel of deleting the video of the incident.

On learning about a zero FIR registered in Punjab, Himachal Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu condemned the incident and directed the law enforcement agency to conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident and ensure that the attackers face strict action.

A government spokesperson said, “This one-off incident does not reflect well on the state which has always been a safe abode to the visitors and locals alike.” He added that the police had intervened and taken the injured to Chamba hospital for first aid.

The couple, however, refused both a medical check-up and to register the case. Later, both the parties agreed for settlement in police presence.

After a probe , the Himachal Police stated that “the complainant and his brother Jeevanjeet Singh were forcibly holding the hands of female tourists and local women on the pretext of practising palmistry that led to the altercation”.

The Police added that the incident along with another pertaining to a Chandigarh Police personnel entering into an altercation with the local Police over wrong parking had nothing to do with the Kangana slap episode.

But social media has been clogged with offending posts. There have been posts calling for a boycott of Himachal Pradesh by the tourists from Punjab. The language used in such posts is offensive.

However, an even more serious issue is the peddling of hate against Muslims. Tension had prevailed in Nahan town of Sirmaur district following some pictures of animal slaughter on Eid-ul-Adha by a shopkeeper who originally belongs to Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh.

This gave fodder to the right wing elements that went on to ransack his shop in Chhota Chowk market of the town.

Reports say that the Police investigations have found that the shopkeeper Javed had posted “gory pictures of the animal whose slaughter is not prohibited”. He has been arrested from his village in Jalalabad since his act led to disturbing the communal harmony. However, a lot of hate continues to be unleashed against the community by the Hindutva Right Wing groups.

According to sources on the ground, it has been wrongly reported in a section of the media that some Muslim shopkeepers belonging to other states have fled the town. “The people who had gone home from Eid are yet to return and a few of them have prolonged their stay there to let the tempers cool down. We are coordinating with the rational and concerned citizens from all the communities to ensure peace in the town,” an official stated.

The Nahan episode is another ‘one off incident’ but a hate campaign against the Muslim migrants continues in different parts of the state. It needs to be pointed out that the boom in the construction industry in the last two and a half decades has witnessed a large number of Muslims coming in search of gainful employment.

Many are also earning their livelihood as fruit and vegetable sellers. However, the Right Wing has been actively engaged in spreading hate against the community by blaming them for “capturing the local markets”. The fact remains that these migrants have prospered through sheer hard work and sincerity.

This writer was privy to hate spread on the occasion of the state level Shoolini Fair by the Right Wing elements among the local traders of Solan on the social media. The fair concluded on Sunday.

The Right Wing elements called for an “economic boycott of migrant Muslim shopkeepers that are running retail outlets on rent, vegetable vendors, barbers, plumbers, carpenters and masons”.

They also went to the extent of giving ‘Nahan like treatment’ to the migrants. There were also appeals made to the local shop owners not to rent out their properties to Muslims for retail sale or for housing.

However, insiders among the trading community confided that the most rational thing that can be sought from the administration is a police verification of tenants to ensure that there is no criminal element around. They also disclosed that many local shop owners give shops for rent at huge amounts and in order to evade taxes even show the migrants as their “business partners” on paper.

Solan and Shimla have seen the maximum influx of migrants from all communities from states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. Many of them have come with their families, and the womenfolk are also contributing to the local economy.

Some years ago this reporter had asked a Muslim migrant mason from Bihar why he had chosen to bring his family to a hill town given the fact that the culture, food habits and climate were totally different from his native village in Arrah. The mason called his teenage daughter and said, “This is the first girl in my entire clan who is getting educated. The safety and good education in a government girls’ school was what made me bring my family here.”