Today, the Supreme Court refused to entertain a petition seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' proposed to be held by Hindutva groups in Uttarakhand's Purola town in Uttar Kashi district, which is in the middle of communal tensions.
A vacation bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Ahsanuddin Amanullah expressed disinclination to entertain the petition saying that the petitioner can approach the High Court. The petition was filed by Association for Protection of Civil Rights.
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.”
In such a situation, says the PUCL letter, “the state’s failure to take adequate action is notable given that this was brought to their attention in an open letter dated May 30, written by the Lawyers of the Supreme Court of India to the Governor of Uttarakhand. The letter also noted specifically the actions of the previously mentioned entities in relation to hate-speech and past communal violence.”
The two letter petitions by (1) Vajpeyi and Apoorvanand and (2) PUCL are appended below.
concern about communal tensions in the state.
“If the mahapanchayat is allowed to happen, it could lead to a boil in communal tensions in the state. Muslim traders are reportedly being warned to leave Purola town before the mahapanchayat takes place … This could be a precursor to large-scale violence,” Vajpeyi and Apoorvanand say in the letter.
They also mention an ultimatum given to the state’s Muslim community by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan to leave the state. They note that these incidents are part of a trend where minority religious groups are targeted and intimidated through hate speech.
Writing that such events are incompatible with the rule of law and parliamentary democracy, Vajpeyi and Apoorvanand write to the judges “hoping for prompt action in [their] capacity as head of the judiciary to take immediate action to prevent the mahapanchayat from taking place on June 15, 2023”.
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