Uttarakhand: CM Pushkar Dhami flags 'çonspiracy', asks cops to act against 'love jihad'

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Friday referred to cases of alleged abduction of minor Hindu girls and elopement involving interfaith couples as a “conspiracy”, and asked police officers to take stern action against “love jihad”.

''People of different faiths coexist peacefully in Uttarakhand but things like love jihad will not be tolerated,” he told reporters.

“Crimes like these are being committed as part of a conspiracy. But people are coming out openly against them now,'' Dhami said.

Right-wing outfits use the term “love jihad” to allege luring of Hindu women by Muslim men into a relationships or marriages aimed at converting them to Islam.

The chief minister said he held a meeting with senior police officers here to get feedback on steps taken in connection with ''love jihad'' incidents reported recently in the state.

He was apparently referring to some cases over recent weeks in Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Haridwar districts in which Muslim men were accused of hiding their identities to befriend minor girls.

The incidents led to protests aimed at Muslim traders, forcing them to leave Uttarkashi.

Dhami said people coming out in the open against such crimes reflected “awareness”.

''Awareness about love jihad is growing. That is why more such incidents have come to the fore over the past two or three months. One reason of this is introduction of a severe anti-conversion law,'' the CM said, referring to the legislation against unlawful conversion enacted last year.

''Instructions have been given to the police to deal sternly with the guilty in love jihad cases. They have also been asked to conduct verification drives from time to time to look into the antecedents of people coming from outside and settling here,'' he said.

The meeting was attended by DGP Ashok Kumar and Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi.

In Uttarkashi’s Purola, two men, one of them a Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl in on May 26. There were protests led by right-wing outfits.

Posters were pasted on shops owned by Muslims, asking their owners to leave town ahead of a ‘mahapanchayat’ on June 15. Muslim traders shut their shops.

There ‘were protests in Barkot, Chinyalisaur, and Bhatwari as well.

A similar “ultimatum” was served to Muslim shopkeepers in Nainbagh by the local traders’ body and the Hindu Yuva Vahini.

Muslim traders who have left Uttarkashi district in fear include BJP's district minority cell president Mohammad Zahid who ran a garment shop in Purola.