In Uttarakhand, the banners reading “entry of non-Hindus is banned” have been installed by a right-wing outfit, Hindu Yuva Vahini in over 150 temples of Dehradun.
The banners have been put up at various temples situated in Chakrata Road, Suddhowala and Prem Nagar areas of Dehradun.
The move came after a teenage boy from the Muslim community was assaulted by a Hindu for drinking water from a tap at the Dasna Devi temple in Ghaziabad. The temple has a board that reads that ‘Muslims are not allowed inside’ which has been put up on the directions of the temple’s head priest Yati Narasimhanand Saraswati.
The boy who was assaulted, in his statement, said that he cannot read Hindi and was not knowing Muslims are not allowed inside the premises of the temple.
The temple is the headquarter of Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, an extremist Hindutva priest associated with BJP leaders Giriraj Singh and Kapil Mishra whose public speeches, comments and interviews openly justify violence against Muslims. He also praised Shringi Yadav, the man who assaulted the Muslim boy.
Jeetu Randhawa, state general secretary of Hindu Yuva Vahini extended his support to Saraswati’s decision of putting posters at temples.
Meanwhile, BSP MLA from Dhaulana, Aslam Chaudhary alleged that the temple belonged to his ancestors and added that he will remove the posters banning the entry of non-Hindus into the temple.
While countering Chaudhary’s statement, Randhawa said we will put such posters outside of every temple of Uttarakhand and said a temple is a revered place for people who believe in Hindu dharma, only those will be allowed who believe in this religion.
Former Delhi legislator and Congress leader Alka Lamba tweeted a video of threats by right-wing extremists after she went to meet the 12-year-old Muslim boy who was assaulted.
The complaint filed by Lamba says that Hindutva extremists are openly abusing and threatening the Muslim community and also threatening those who speak for them.
On March 19, several Hindu groups held demonstrations in the area where slogans were raised against Muslims. Amid Section 144 imposed on March 21, protests were once again held against the Muslim community.
The situation has turned more alarming. Many Hindutva groups have joined in the show of strength and taken to erecting banners at other temples and shrines warning Muslims and non-Hindus not to enter the premises of the temples.