For more than a month now, Himachal Pradesh has been simmering with communal tension. For a State where Muslims form just 2.18 per cent of the population, the scope to engineer or foment unrest was hitherto limited. In 6 of the State’s 12 districts, the Muslim population is less than 1 per cent. In Shimla, it is 1.45 per cent according to the 2011 Census.
On August 31, a skirmish between a resident and some labourers in Malyana, near Sanjauli town in Shimla district, over payment of wages ended up as a conflict with communal overtones.
On September 11, members of fraternal Hindu organisations took out a march from Malyana to Sanjauli and submitted a list of demands, which included the abolition of the State Waqf Board, the identification of all illegal migrants and illegal mosques and structures belonging to Muslims, and the demolition of the “illegal” mosque at Sanjauli.
This story was originally published in frontline.thehindu.com. Read the full story here.
