By S.M.A. Kazmi
Dehradun: A case of ‘Reverse Love Jehad’ has led to heightened communal tension in Doon valley since Thursday night with members of the Right-wing Hindu groups affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party/Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh blocking the main Clock Tower (Ghantaghar) road in the city, seeking release of a Bajrang Dal leader who has been booked by the police for alleged communal violence and arson at Dehradun railway station. Later, the Bajrang Dal leader and his supporters were released under pressure from ruling party leaders.
Thousands of commuters, school going children, tourists and common people were stranded and suffered on the main road as members of some Hindu organisations, along with some shopkeepers of Paltan Bazaar, began a sit-in and blocked the road in support of their demands. All the shops in Paltan Bazaar and adjoining areas of Gandhi Road, Chakrata Road and Rajpur Road also remained closed.
The trouble started Thursday night when the Railway Police found a minor girl with a boy on the railway platform. On interrogation, it came to light that the minor Muslim girl from Baduan in Uttar Pradesh had eloped and reached Dehradun to meet her Hindu boyfriend. As the news spread, the self-proclaimed leaders of both the Hindu and Muslim communities reached the railway station.
Vikas Verma, a Bajrang Dal leader, who has been calling the shots in Uttarakhand and raising the pitch on any issue involving the minority community since the past several years, was aggressive and wanted that the girl should not be sent back to her parents. The Railway Police had found that the parents of the minor girl had lodged a police complaint with the Uttar Pradesh police regarding her disappearance.
This story was originally published in newsclick.in. Read the full story here.
