At least three Dargahs were vandalised by members of a Hindutva group, Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan, in Amit Gram area of Uttarakhand’s Rishikesh.
Videos of the incident which have gone viral on social media show members of Hindutva group using sledgehammers to smash headstones of the Dargahs while shouting “Jai Shri Ram.”
In a video, a bulldozer can be seen clearing the debris of demolished Dargahs.
“It is Devbhoomi not Mazarbhoomi,” a Hindutva man can be heard saying in one of videos as he threatens that all such” illegal mazars” anywhere in the state will be demolished.
“We have thrown out the dead person inside the grave. All the dead residing in these mazars will be thrown out,” another assailant is heard saying as the JCB machine clears the debris of the demolished Dargah.
“The land on which the mazars were built belong to two Hindus from the hills. They permitted us to demolish them. We did it in the presence of police personnel,” said Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyan president Swami Darshan Bharti, PTI news agency reported.
“There are 25-30 such mazars in Gumaniwala and Shyampur areas of Rishikesh. We will demolish them too. Building mazars in Devbhoomi is an attack on our religion,” he said.
Meanwhile, a case under section 505 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been lodged against unidentified people in connection with the incident. No arrests have been made yet.
