Uttarakhand: Dog Leash, Mob Assault, Fear-- Campaign Against Muslims Escalates

Dehradun: The image of a young Muslim man, grievously injured after allegedly being assaulted by a mob of Hindutva extremists, with a dog leash fastened around his neck and tied to a pole in Haridwar's Khankhal area, has emerged as a stark symbol of the harassment, intimidation, and growing insecurity faced by Muslims in Uttarakhand, often referred to as 'Devbhoomi' (Land of the Gods).

The young man was caught with Hindu girl and assaulted badly by a group of Bajrang Dal members, which are on prowl throughout the length and breadth of Uttarakhand targeting Muslims on one pretext or other. But in this case, the girl has taken up courage to lodge a police FIR against the attackers.

The target in the past months had been Muslim youth studying in various colleges, universities or working as small-time workers. They had been targeted by belligerent groups of Bajrang Dal, Hindu Rakhsha Dal or Kali Sena, all affiliates of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh- Bharatiya Janata Party ruling dispensation for ‘Love jehad’ if “caught” with a Hindu girl.

There have been scores of incidents in the past month where members of these groups, allegedly having tacit understanding with the police force and authorities, have barged into rooms, hostels, hotels and restaurants beating up Muslim youth if “caught” with any Hindu girl. It appears that the ‘Rule of Law’ has replaced by the new ‘code of conduct’ powered by Hindutva forces, as the Uttarakhand police seems to have abdicated it’s responsibility.

Interestingly, these Hindutva groups are multiplying at an alarming rate and have carved out their own territories to “save Hindus” and particularly their “Hindu sisters” from ‘Jehadi Muslims’ with police looking the other way or even accompanying them in some cases.

The campaign is not confined to only targeting Muslims but also amplifying the incidents with the help of social media platforms. These groups are accompanied by camera teams which record the incidents. The victims are beaten up thoroughly and told to parrot the narrative set up by the aggressors. The victims are threatened to say that they have been assigned the task of ‘trapping’ Hindu girls by the ‘Maulanas’ for ‘Love Jehad’ for a financial reward. The assaulters allegedly even quote rates of different Hindu caste girls set by the Muslim clergy.

These groups and even individuals have targeted Muslims on the basis of their names and the names of their businesses. They have been charged with impersonating by adopting Hindu names. These groups are roaming freely and even scrounging hotels, rest houses and resorts in and around Dehradun and Rishikesh for any young Muslim staying there.

In the past few months, many Muslims youngsters have been beaten up by these groups for staying in the hotels with Hindu girls or women. With the growing popularity on social media platforms, more such vigilante groups under the garb of Hindutva, are also checking saloons, parlours, hotels and resorts for suspected prostitution rackets.    

Some of the more sophisticated groups have experts who help in making reels or videos showing what they want to show and omitting the violence. Such social media posts, besides nurturing the BJP-RSS narrative of “Love Jehad” ‘Land Jehad’ and other forms of manufactured Jehad and vilifying Muslims in the eyes of gullible public, also result in lakhs of views. Many of these are monetised.

A story by news portal, The Wire, l titled, ‘In Uttarakhand, Bajrang dal members are now professional hate infleuncers’ written by Kaushik Raj and Vipul Kumar, said that “Their pages show that anti-Muslim hate videos do not seem to be only about propagating a certain ideology, but are fast becoming a profitable and algorithmically rewarded genre of content creation.” 

The story indicated that these groups are serving hate in a professional manner under the patronage of authorities without any check from social media platform companies.         

These groups are spread all over the state from Pithoragarh in the east to Uttarkashi in the west. Almost every day, these groups are posting their ‘activities’ on social media platforms targeting Muslims. Bajrang Dal, Kali Sena, Hindu Raksha Dal and Hindu Sena are active in every city and town and havde even demarcated their areas.

In Rishikesh area, there is Naresh Uniyal, In Raipur area of Dehradun, there is Bhupesh Joshi who is leading the charge. In Vikasnagar, Kalsi and Chakrata area, there is one Rakesh Uttarakhandi. In Dehradun city, there are at least three groups, one led by Aman Swedia of Bajrang Dal and another by Vikas Verma. Another group led by Lalit Sharma of Hindu Raksha Dal has been abusive against Muslims on social media. He has been making outrageous and provocative comments and a few FIRs have also been lodged against him by Muslim Sewa Sangathan, a body of young Muslims. There have been police cases against most of them but no concrete action has been taken and these groups are emboldened by each and every of their actions.

“It is most unfortunate that police and senior officials have shown their inability in doing anything against them. We approach police after such incidents which comes to our notice but no strong action has been initiated except filing some FIRs,” lamented Nayeem Quraishy, president of Muslim Sewa Sangathan.  

Radha Dhoni Semwal and Sharadha are women Hindutva foot soldiers who are also active in harassing poor Muslim street vendors and Van Gujjars. They are accompanied by even policeman for their protection.  

 In Srinagar Garhwal, there is Lakhpat Bhandari, a BJP leader who has spearheaded the Hindutva tirade against Muslims in the area. His wife Aarti Bhandari is BJP mayor of Srinagar Municipal Corporation.      

There is severe competition between these groups for oneupmanship in targeting Muslims on one pretext or another. Apart from efforts to economically boycott Muslims, there have been demands by these groups to debar the minority community from using government run medical facilities.

Since AIIMS, Rishikesh is the only government-run prestigious hospital in the region, a lot of people of all communities, including Muslims from neighbouring districts of Uttar Pradesh, go there for treatment, the Hindutva groups are seeking to debar them by demanding that AIIMS, Rishikesh should exclusively be for people of ‘Devbhoomi’.  

In the past five years of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami trying to portray himself as a hardline Hindutva icon on the lines of his mentors Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, there have been incidents across the state where Muslims were targeted, attacked, assaulted and even made to flee their homes.

Poor Muslims, who mostly do small time businesses, trade or sell fruits and vegetables, particularly those with a beard and a skull cap are being targeted. Hindutva group members have been seen going around checking the antecedents of Muslims selling goods on their motorcycles or cycles. Some have been even forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and threatened against entering the state or that area and get their verification done from local councillors.

In Rishikesh, where there is no mosque to pray, Muslims who assemble to pray in some private houses have been allegedly harassed, threatened and accused of converting their house into a mosque. Recently, a young student from Deoband with a beard, who was visiting an ailing relative, was seen being harassed by a Hindutva zealot in Rishikesh area.

The state administration led by Dhami has also been engaged in dismantling in ‘Mazars’ and mosques across the state on the grounds of being illegal, while Chief Minister has publicly proclaimed that by doing away with Madrassas, he has controlled “Mullawadi” (Muslim) culture to develop in the state. Already more than 600 Mazars have been demolished and scores of mosques sealed across the state in the name of anti-encroachment drive.

No action has been initiated against Hindu temples and shrines on forest and government lands. Since Assembly elections are fast approaching, the anti-Muslim rhetoric is gaining momentum. Last week, the Uttarakhand police removed loudspeakers from nearly a hundred mosques in Dehradun and Haridwar districts on the grounds of implementation of Supreme Court directions, but Hindu temples and Sikh Gurdwaras were spared.         

It is not that the ire of these Hindutva groups is solely directed toward Muslims, Christians are also victims of the wrath of these groups. Purnima Solomon, who runs Sophia High School on Nashville Road, Dehradun, lodged a FIR on July 8, 2026, charging that Aman Swedia, along with 20 to 25 other persons, barged into her school assaulting and threatening the staff. They alleged that the school has been indulging in conversion activities. Similarly, a prayer meeting of Christians in Tehri was disrupted by Hindutva elements accusing the Christians of conversions, last month.   

The writer is a senior freelance journalist based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The views are personal.