NEW DELHI: In the wake of objectionable signboards appearing at the entrances of villages in several areas of Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag, a civil society group comprising several retired civil servants and academics on Monday wrote to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami against alleged discrimination targeting Muslims. Villagers in several areas of Rudraprayag district have put up signboards at the entrances of their villages, prohibiting the entry of outsiders. Signboards had been put up in villages such as Sirsi, Rampur-Nyalsu, and others.
Initially, the boards stated a ban on "non-Hindus", but the phrasing was later changed to "ban on outsiders" following police intervention, according to villagers. The police, however, later said objectionable signboards have been removed. "The signboards put up at six places in Guptkashi police station area were objectionable and have been withdrawn," Deputy Superintendent of Police Prabodh Kumar Ghildiyal said.
People have been asked to maintain social harmony , he said. In a letter to Dhami, Citizens for Fraternity said that as concerned citizens of the country they have watched with dismay, news coming out of various places in Uttarakhand of "discrimination against Muslims, many of whom have been residents for decades and owning businesses there". The letter is signed by the likes of former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi, former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former AMU vice chancellor Zameer Uddin Shah , former MP Shah.
