DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand state police have now made it mandatory for those from outside the state to present an affidavit stating that their details including their documents are all proper and not fake.
They will also have to present a certified copy of their character certificate issued by the local police station of their native place.
“The step is taken to ensure that there are no fake documents. In many cases we have not received verification reports from native places of the people,” said Ashok Kumar, director general of police, Uttarakhand.
In April this year, the state police and administration started a verification drive of those who have migrated to the hill state from other states.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had issued instructions to take action against those who have violated the rules.
According to the statement issued by the PHQ earlier this year, the verification drive will focus on people and small business persons who have moved into the system in the last 10 years.
The CM responding to the queries related to banning the entry of non-Hindus in the Char Dham shrines – Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri said that the state government will conduct a verification drive to check if people from outside of the state have encroached upon illegally.
Earlier this year, Swami Anand Swaroop, a seer who was part of the Haridwar Dharam Sansad hate speech, has written to Uttarakhand Chief Minister to ban entry of non-Hindu people into Char Dham shrines. He also warned the CM of the increasing footprints of non-Hindus in the Himalayan state.
The seer had also warned that his ‘Kali Sena’ will teach a lesson to those non-Hindus who ‘violate the sanctity of the Char Dham’.
Swami Anand Swaroop, one of the organizers of Dharam Sansad in Haridwar in December 2021, is also the convenor of the Dharam Sansad core committee.
Last year, intelligence agencies alerted authorities in Uttarakhand about ‘Demographic Changes’ in certain areas of the hill state warning of these changes, especially in border districts of Udham Singh Nagar, Champawat and Pithoragarh of the Kumaon division of the state.
All three districts share a border with Nepal. Officials from the Uttarakhand government said that a report was sent to the union home ministry in January 2021 citing the situation in these districts as ‘sensitive’.
In September 2021, the state government citing too much increase in population in certain areas of the state which is causing ‘Demographic Change’ resulting in ‘Migration of some communities from those areas’, issued directions to take steps to find the ‘solution of the problem’.
Release from the state government stated, “It has come to the notice of the government that in certain areas of the state due to too much increase in population demographic changes have occurred resulting in ‘migration by some communities from those areas’. Not only this but there is also an apprehension of disturbance in communal harmony.”
However, the release did not name any community.
The release further stated that the director general of police of the state, all the district magistrates and district police chiefs to take steps to find a solution to the problem.
The state government had also issued instructions to form district-level committees along with ‘Peace Committees.
These committees will advise finding a ‘solution’ of the ‘problem’ and meetings will be organized from time to time to maintain peace.
The directions had also been issued to identify people in every district of Uttarakhand who are from other states with a criminal history living in the state and verify their documents as well as records.
Directions also include taking action against authorities who have forged their documents including foreigners and keeping an eye on the sale of properties to see if anyone is not selling the property out of pressure or fear.
Interestingly, the union home ministry in an RTI reply had stated that threats to Hindus and Hinduism are ‘imaginary’ or ‘hypothetical’.