Why are the ‘Hindus of Himachal’ taking to the streets?

Devbhoomi Himachal has been making headlines nationwide in the past few days. The Hindu community of Himachal has been protesting on the streets for several days now. The intensity of these protests is increasing rapidly. In Shimla and Mandi, the police administration was insensitive and used lathi charges and water cannons against innocent Hindu protesters. On September 14, Hindu organisations called for Himachal Bandh and protests were held in all districts, during which memoranda were handed over to the authorities. In such a context, it is imperative to ask why the Hindu community of Himachal has suddenly taken to the streets.

The response includes criminal acts carried out by migrants from other states in Himachal Pradesh, illegal mosque-mazar construction, involvement of the Waqf Board, and incidents of street traders misbehaving with locals. All this is a result of an Islamic Jihad plan carried out by Jamaatis from outside Himachal.

These same Jamaatis have poisoned Himachal’s environment by trapping local Muslims too. The number of mosques in Himachal, also known as Devbhoomi because of the temples dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses, is increasing steadily. Jamaatis visit and stay in these mosques and the whole game continues. As a result, the local business community is furious. The goods of the street traders are of poor quality and they do not pay taxes, have no bills or vouchers. The time of their street trading is when the men go to work. At that time, only the ladies stay in the house, so these street traders kept playing games with them.

Surprisingly, they do not have any identity cards and their Aadhar cards are questionable. Locals believe that many of these street vendors do this while hiding their true identity. It was only after the illegal construction of Sanjauli Masjid came to light that similar instances of illegal mosque construction in Mandi, Kullu and Bilaspur districts came to light. Such videos have gone viral on social media, in which the date of birth on each person’s Aadhar card is 01-01… The middle-aged street vendor’s Aadhar card has a photo of a young child in it. When asked, locals behave rudely.

Some have a paper with the seal of the police station. According to local businessmen, this simple paper does not allow anyone to sell goods through peddlers.

The traders of Ghumarwin in Bilaspur district sought this information from the police through RTI and the police responded in writing stating that we do not have the authority to grant permission to anyone to hawk. Generally, this game of hawking is illegal. The vehicles, especially the bicycles used by these hawkers lack documentation and most of the bicycles do not have number plates. These hawkers are not even registered and if they are, the registration process has several flaws.

Since the number of street vendors has increased in Himachal, incidents like theft, love jihad and missing children have increased in every district. The internal security of the Hindu community of Himachal is at risk because of these street vendors, who are mostly Muslims. Young and middle-aged street vendors go door to door in the village to collect hair of women. Imagine what they would earn. For what purpose is hair of women collected?

The second major issue that has left the Hindu community upset is the illegal construction of mosques. It was only after the issue of illegal construction of Sanjauli Masjid came to the fore that similar issues of illegal mosque construction came to the fore in Mandi, Kullu and Bilaspur districts. There is also concern that Jamaatis from other states are residing in these mosques and misbehaving with the locals, especially women. The statements of the Sanjauli women can be confirmed in the national media.

The Hindu community of Himachal has recognised the threat of systematic ‘demographic change’ like in Uttarakhand. In recent years, drug trafficking from other states has increased in Himachal, especially Chitta (heroine). Chitta addiction has led to untimely deaths of young people. People’s homes are being destroyed due to their addiction. The police arrest drug addicts but cannot control the big mafia. People are also angry that the government cannot take concrete action in this regard.

The reason why the Hindu community is coming out on the streets is to ensure their internal security from the government, to save the loss suffered by the local business community due to street vendors and to stop the construction of illegal mosques. The state government has been extremely indifferent and careless in dealing with the problems of the Hindu community in Himachal. As a result, the Hindu community has started preparing for these problems. The insensitivity of the government can be insensitivity shown by the fact that one of its ministers confirmed the illegal construction of Sanjauli mosque and the presence of Rohingyas in Shimla in an address to the state assembly but no action is taken. On the contrary, the voice of the minister has been silenced.

In general, the Hindu community of Himachal wants the government to provide a solution to the internal security of the state, love jihad, land jihad caused by the illegal construction of Majars and mosques, and the conspiracy to cause losses to local businesses. It remains to be seen what action the government will take, but the Hindu community of Himachal has started preparing itself to deal with these issues.