Communal tension hits Uttarakhand village Satpuli again

Communal tension gripped a town in Uttarakhand after a person was beaten up for being allegedly involved in a sexual act with a calf. The members of right wing groups including Bajrang Dal, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) thrashed Shah Alam and ransacked his furniture shop in the town.

Satpuli in Uttarakhand again after three weeks following an incident in which a person was allegedly

The owner of a dairy at Dudharkhal Chowk at Satpuli, saw Shah Alam allegedly involved in a sexual act with a calf in his dairy. He raised an alarm and people caught the alleged culprit and beat him up. A large number of right wing groups gathered at the police station and demanded action against the culprit.

The protesters forced the closure of the market and ransacked the furniture shop owned by the alleged culprit. The police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to control the situation from getting out of control.

Pauri Garhwal Senior Superintendent of Police Jagat Ram Joshi and Lansdowne SDM Sohan Singh Saini reached Satpuli to pacify the agitated crowd. Joshi said that the alleged culprit has been arrested but nobody would be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere in the town.

Earlier on July 9, right wing organisations had burnt two vegetable shops belonging to Muslims over an alleged defamatory Facebook post by a young Muslim from the town. The right-wing groups had alleged that the young man had posted a picture with Kedarnath temple in the background. The youth had used his own picture in a template of Uttarakhand state photograph in which Kedarnath temple is also depicted. In the altered image a slipper is imposed on the photo with a slogan “Not in My Name.” The youth was arrested and sent to jail.