COMMUNAL TENSIONS RISE IN UTTARAKHAND. GHANSHYALI flare up a matter of concern.

Never before Uttarakhand has during the last 18 years after its coming into separate existence witnessed any communal riots as during the last few years. While exodus from the interior towns and cities of the local populace to Dehradun and other plain areas including Haridwar, Almora, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar and in the metropolitan cities have increased manifold leaving the villages devoid of populations the influx of outside communities have undoubtedly increased vice cersa.

The small and medium businesses and the shops of barbers , vegetable vending, confectioners, cobblers, small hotels, restaurants, electronic gadgets and even transport etc are usually run by the non Uttarakhandi communities, majorly.

Even the minority community, though not much, population has amalgamated in the Uttarakhandi culture living here in harmony and peace. In Uttarakhand there are several muslim dominated villages too who speak even better Garhwali and Kumaoni than those with actual Pahadi background.

But since the last few years the atmosphere of harmony and positive communal fabric has been disturbed and erored with incidents of communal tentions erupting in some parts of Uttarakhand viz. Mussourie, Kotdwar, Satpuli and Ghanshyali etc.

The reason being involvement of some of the criminalised youths involved in some uncalled for, fishy , illegal activities, crimes and assault of the girls or women activities and cases hailing from the minority community. On 30th July a muslim youth’s involvement with a minor hindu girl in one of the hotels’ in the Ghanshyali town of Tehri Garhwal, Uttarakhand has triggered communal tension in this otherwise peaceful township where furious and angered people burnt several shops of a particular community and thrashed the youth before handing him over to the local police.

According to the police the people caught the youth red handed with a minor girl in the hotel room that enraged them badly.

According to a news report a group of about more than two hundred strong mob caught the youth Asad Alvi with a minor hindu girl in a local hotel. The highly enraged mob thrashed the boy on the way and ransacked 13 shops in Ghanshyali market before parading the youth with a garlend of shoes n slippers on his neck and finally handing him to the police.

Alvi primarily belongs to Bijnaur district, living in a rented accomodation, running a barber shop. There had never been any communal flareup in this otherwise peaceful town with a meagre population of less than eight thousand people, with negligible shops of muslim traders.

A case of rape has been registered against the culprit since the girl was below eighteen.

Uttarakhand as such had never witnessed communal flare up cases except in the year 2017 and now, in few areas of Garhwal in Mussourie, Kotdwar, Ghanshyali and Satpuli where alleged cases of assault on women, planting of news using derogatory remarks against the pious Kedarnath Dham and posting of Pakistani song by a Kashmiri on social networking site were reported by the people hailing from minority community.

While the traders of the minority community are in the state of shock and apprehensive for their secured and safe future there are some from the majority community who do not want the minority population to stay put and flourish in the area as they charge sime of them vitiating the peaceful environment by selling drugs and carring iut unlawful activities.

The situation in Ghanshyali is now under control and the businesses are running as usual. The minor girl had been restored to her parents.