Today, the Uttarakhand High Court directs the State Government to ensure that law and order is maintained in all parts of the State and no loss of life or property of any person occurs.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Rakesh Thapliyal issued the direction while issuing notice in a PIL filed by an organisation named 'Association for the Protection of Civil Rights' seeking directions to stop a 'mahapanchayat' announced by Hindutva groups in Purola today and registration of FIRs against persons who have issued ultimatum to Muslims in the area to vacate the place.
The bench directed the petitioner, its associations and all others concerned to refrain from social media debates on the issue to normalise the situation.
The petition was filed by Association for Protection of Civil Rights.
"We would not like flare up on social media with allegations and counter allegations. Or debates on television or social media", Chief Justice orally said.
In two separate letter petitions, Hindi scholars Ashok Vajpeyi and Apoorvanand and the Peoples Union for Civil Liberties have asked the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Uttarakhand high court Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi to prevent a mahapanchayat from happening in Uttarakhand’s Purola town on June 15 because it could lead to communal tensions and large-scale violence
The petitions seeking judicial intervention ahead of the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan’s mahapanchayat comes hours after 52 former civil servants wrote to Uttarakhand’s chief secretary and police chief expressing their
“The campaign was based on an incident of alleged abduction of a Hindu minor girl in Purola by two accused (belonging to both Hindu and Muslim communities) and has been escalated as proof of ‘love jihad’. It should be noted that no governmental organisation or data has ever substantiated the existence of ‘love jihad’, or forcible conversions in the guise of fraudulent romantic relationships, but that the concept has been used to buttress hate-speech against Muslims across the country in recent times. The current situation in Uttarakhand is playing out similarly.”
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