Shimla mosque row: Traders back Hindu group, Muslim vendors conceal identities (Madhyamam Online)

The protests have left the Muslim community in Shimla on edge, with many vendors concealing their identities due to fear of reprisal and experiencing a significant decline in business, reflecting a deep disappointment in the disrupted communal harmony.

By Web Desk

Anti-mosque protests have spread across Himachal Pradesh, initially igniting in Shimla’s Sanjauli area earlier this month before spilling into other districts, The Wire reported.

The unrest, which began with objections to the alleged construction of illegal mosque structures, has now expanded to include demands for limiting the entry of ‘outsiders,’ a term exclusively used to target Muslims from other states, accused of taking local jobs and businesses.

The districts of Nerwa, Kasumpti, Mandi, Kullu, and Hamirpur have become new focal points for these anti-Muslim protests. Muslim communities have been subject to hostility in places like Solan and Palampur, where locals accused them of being outsiders. This wave of unrest is reportedly fuelled by a broad range of organisations, from local trader groups to both old and newly-formed Hindu groups.

Members of the opposition BJP and the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have also been implicated, with several individuals booked following police investigations into violent protests against a mosque in Sanjauli on September 11.

This story was originally published in madhyamamonline.com. Read the full story here.

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