Communal tension in Indora village after cow found dead

Lalit Mohan

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Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, December 17

Tension is brewing in Surdawan village in the Indora area of Kangra district. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists have started a protest demanding that Muslim Gujjars, who have settled on common land in the village, be evicted. They had blocked traffic over the issue in Indora recently as part of their agitation.

The Gujjars, on the other hand, allege that they are being harassed by vested interests. They allege that miscreants have burnt their hay dumps many times but the police have not taken action against anyone.

Kangra admn trying to defuse situation

• The district administration is trying to bring together both communities.
• The district administration has started legal proceedings to evict all encroachers, irrespective of their religions, from government land.

The current situation obtained after the carcass of a cow was found in the area. The VHP activists accuse Muslim Gujjars of killing the cow.

Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, Nipun Jindal says that a postmortem performed on the dead cow indicated that the animal had died of some natural cause. So, the allegation that the cow was killed by a particular community was unfounded, he adds.

He says that the VHP activists have been demanding the eviction of the Gujjars from government land in Surdawan village. However, besides the Gujjars, there are many other people who have encroached upon government land in the area. The district administration has started legal proceedings to evict all encroachers, irrespective of their religions, from government land.

Hassan Deen, a Gujjar leader of Himachal, says, “Most of the Gujjars, who are settled in Surdawan village, are residents of Himachal. They had bought land in the village and settled there along with their herds of buffaloes. The land of some Gujjars was washed away in floods a few years ago and after that they settled on government land in the vicinity. Some vested interests are trying to create communal disharmony to target the Gujjar community”.