The ominous signboards are gone but the tension remains, seeping into conversations in village squares over ‘chai’ and inside homes.
For years, the villages of Rudraprayag, a key stop along the Kedarnath Yatra, saw communities working together peacefully, their livelihoods tied to the pilgrimage season in Uttarakhand. But a marked shift over the past few months has left several of them on the edge, concerned by emerging fault lines — and uncertain about what lies ahead.
Reason: Boards set up, mainly by local pro-Hindutva outfits such as Bhairav Sena, which read: “Warning: Non-Hindus/ Rohingya Muslims and hawkers are prohibited from roaming in the village and doing business. If caught anywhere in the village, punitive and legal action will be taken.”
“This campaign has been going on for the past year,” said Praveen Kumar, whose wife Chandani Devi is the pradhan of Maikanda. “The board was installed by some people in my village a week ago, after which I received a call from police saying we cannot use communal remarks,” he said
“I spent my entire life here, but such things are happening for the first time,” said Nadeem, a 28-year-old who runs a barbershop in Shersi village, a few kilometres away.
This story was originally published in indianexpress.com. Read the full story here.
