SUNIL NEGI
In Uttarakhand the law and order situation seems to be out of control and two incidents related to minor girls , the one in Nainital where a 14 year old girl has reportedly been raped and in Thauldhar block of Tehri Garhwal a mutilated dead body of another village girl was found in a ditch after her disappearance twelve days ago with the police literary doing nothing to trace her or bring the culprit to justice till now have outraged the people of Uttarakhand to the hilt.
In Nainital the law and order situation had gone out of control a day and two before where the situation was allegedly given a communal colour as the 73 year old culprit is from minority community and now behind bar.
There were several protest demonstrations in Nainital where arson and vandalism took place including thrashing of the people of a particular community. On Friday several majority community organisations protested outside the mosque in Nainital when the Friday ( Jumme Ki) Namaz was being offered by hundreds of Muslims.
The local administration and police intervened which took more than two hours to resolved the confrontation with protestors demanding death to the culprit. A narrative of minority verses majority is being created but not a single protestor had gone to the residence of the two girls living in distress in the absence of their parents.
Several hooligans and those involved in physical attacks and vandalism has been caught on CCTV footages but no one has been arrested till date.
The right thinking people and intellectuals of Nainital and Uttarakhand including progressive journalists, thinkers and writers have strongly condemned this incident terming this as most obnoxious, shameful and against humanity and have appealed to the state government to give the culprit most stringent punishment but the law should take its own course.
The matter should not be communalised on religious lines as rapists and criminals have no religion. The entire community of a culprit can’t be held responsible especially on communal lines as in Ankita Bhandari case and in several other rape cases several culprits hail from a political party known to everyone.
Even the Uttarakhand the honourable High Court has taken the issue very seriously and the two judge bench comprising of the Chief justice of UK H C G. Narendra and Justice Ravindra Tripathi has filed contempt against the administration and stayed the demolition orders of the culprit’s house , coming down heavily on the local administration saying that they have contravened the Supreme Court directions and have asked the police officers and municipal high ups as well to come with the latest ATR on 6 th May especially arresting the hooligans seen on the CCTV cameras during the vandalism and arson.
Unfortunately, a progressive and brave girl Shelja Negi who came out in the open ready to confront the arsonists, challenging them not to divide the society on religious lines and vandalise the public property including thrashing human beings terming the entire minority community as rapists this allowing the law to take its own course was threatened to be allegedly raped and her body thrown in the river as was the case with late Ankita Bhandari. Indresh Maikhuri an activist of CPI ( ML) has on his social media handle X while expressing his serious concern written : Those who till yesterday were justifying the frenzy, rioting, vandalism, violence and abuse in Nainital by saying that a minor girl had been raped by a non-Hindu man, now they and their companions have started threatening to rape a woman of the same religion and throw her into the lake, only because this woman had expressed disagreement with their ways! Those who were abusing the mother and sister while raising slogans, who can threaten a woman with rape just because she is expressing disagreement, wow self-proclaimed protectors of religion, will you ensure justice for the victimised girl? You have nothing to do with justice, you are not concerned with the suffering of that girl, you are only looking at this incident as an opportunity to spread your ugly politics of frenzy, violence and hatred! Shame ! Give justice to the victim girl! Strict action should be taken against those who gave such disgusting threats to Sheela Negi said Maikhuri through his social media post on X in Hindi.
Meanwhile the leader of the opposition in Uttarakhand assembly and former cabinet minister , veteran Congress leader Yashpal Arya has also expressed his serious concern on the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttarakhand .
He wrote on X a lengthy piece in this regard which says : The law and order situation in Uttarakhand has completely collapsed and the criminals are completely fearless. It seems that instead of the rule of law, the rule of criminals is prevailing in Uttarakhand. The criminals have completely lost their fear of law and order. A strict example could have been presented in the Ankita Bhandari case. The state, which was once known for its peace, culture and simple lifestyle, now daughters are not safe even in the peaceful mountains under the BJP government.
The gruesome act in Nainital, Ankita Bhandari murder case, rape of an innocent girl in Lalkuan, rape and murder of a four-year-old minor girl in Kichha, gang rape of a minor in Uttarkashi, attempt to rape a minor in Bageshwar and Tharali, molestation of girl students in National Institute for the Visually Handicapped in Dehradun, Hema Negi, Pinky murder case, rape of a minor in Champawat, gang rape in Mangalore, attempt to rape a girl in Srinagar, rape of a minor Dalit girl in Dwarahat, rape of a woman after holding her hostage in Dehradun, gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old innocent in Bahadarabad are countless such acts that shame humanity and tarnish the identity of Devbhoomi.
It seems as if jungle raj has been established and there is anarchy all around, the government machinery has completely failed. Criminal incidents are increasing daily in the state. The BJP government of the state has completely failed to fulfill its promise of a fear-free government.
During the 8-year tenure of the BJP government, which gave the slogan of Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, incidents of heinous crimes like rape, heinous murder, looting, theft, robbery, chain snatching, pickpocketing have increased drastically in the state. These incidents occurring continuously in the state have exposed the deteriorating law and order situation and have also caused a great blow to the identity of the state.
An atmosphere of fear has spread among the people of the state and the common people, especially women, are feeling unsafe. From these incidents of heinous crime occurring continuously, it seems that the rule of law has completely ended in the state and due to the poor law and order, the morale of the criminals is so high that instead of stopping the incidents of crime against women one after the other, the crimes are increasing day by day. In such a situation, the morale of the criminals is continuously increasing and they are openly making fun of the law and order said veteran Congress leader Yashpal Arya.
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