Why Haldwani protest has become a political flashpoint in Uttarakhand like to Shaheen Bagh
Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh-style protest is in response to the Uttarakhand High Court’s order for the administration to evacuate railway land in Haldwani. This is why:
The Uttarakhand High Court’s directive ordering inhabitants of Haldwani to leave 29 acres of “railway” land was stayed by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The December 2022 high court judgement, which was the result of a 2013 PIL, has been the target of protests for the previous few days. This is due to the possibility that the high court’s order would result in the destruction of 4,000 houses, banks, mosques, temples, and schools that are considered to be encroaching on public property.
While prayers, requests, candle marches, and sit-ins were taking place, railway authorities surveyed the structures (which had been built over decades).
Muslim women are leading the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2020 and the National Register of Citizens, which has been compared to Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh uprising (NRC). The Supreme Court intervened only after the protests had been ongoing since December 2019 due to the blockade of a road that caused commuters to endure protracted hardships.
The Shaheen Bagh agitation was motivated by the worry that the CAA would prevent Muslim Indian citizens from returning while the NRC would result in the expulsion of “non-citizens,” primarily Muslims.
The district administration in Haldwani has published a notice in local newspapers requesting that residents remove their possessions by January 9.
The BJP-ruled state of Uttarakhand’s opposition has received support from a number of leaders. At his residence in Dehradun on Wednesday, former chief minister of Uttarakhand and Congress politician Harish Rawat staged a one-hour silent protest against the impending demolition, which he claimed will affect 50,000 people, including children, pregnant women, and senior citizens.
Many of the homes, according to protesters, have connections for electricity and water, and the property doesn’t actually belong to the railways.
Asaduddin Owaisi, president of AIMIM, has questioned how government institutions and colleges can be referred to be illegal structures in light of evidence indicating that a large portion of those impacted are Muslims.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind claims that although the area in question was only 29 acres, the Railway delivered eviction orders to persons residing on 78 acres of land. Additionally, it stated that the order of the high court will have an impact on more than 50,000 local residents.
Sumit Hridayesh, a Congress lawmaker from Haldwani, questioned the railways survey and claimed the BJP administration failed to represent the interests of the locals in court.
A bench made up of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices SA Nazeer and PS Narasimha said that it would hear the case on Thursday after activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan made a formal reference in the Supreme Court.
Pushkar Singh Dhami, the chief minister of Uttarakhand, has declared that his administration will abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling.