We hail the large-scale participation in the peace and unity march by members of the civil society and democratic groups on 27th September 2024 in Shimla and Solan against the rising communalism there vis-à-vis the Muslim community. This confluence of secular voices was extremely necessary in these trying times when Hindutva groups had started a conflagration against the peace and harmony of Himachal.
However taking the above into account and standing with the peace and unity march for restoring sisterhood and brotherhood amongst all religious communities in Himachal Pradesh, we further appeal to the civil society and the ruling party to take a strong stand against the demolition of Mosques anywhere in Himachal, whether declared legal or illegal. This must not be allowed to happen. Any move towards demolition of any Mosque in Himachal will only further demean the already marginalized minority community in India [with whom we need to stand by at all levels). The same would legitimize and strengthen the fire of othering being raised in Himachal today.
This would also signal the importing of the toxic bulldozer “justice” of U.P. to Himachal. Even though the case in point might be subjudice, demolishing buildings of the minority community when tens of thousands of illegal buildings are standing intact in Himachal Pradesh will only send a strong negative message and hence will become nothing else but ‘rubbing the nose in’ of the minorities for no mistake of theirs but for the paranoia of the Hindutva . If we are unable to stop this from occurring then, the issue of displaying IDs of eateries owners, as in the UP model will not remain farfetched. All of us who value democracy and secularism must not allow such grave insult to be inflicted on the Muslim community.
Dimple Oberoi Vahali is a feminist and social activist who works for environmental concerns and social justice.
