Haridwar (Uttarakhand) – Haridwar is a Holy place of pilgrimage for Hindus. All the Muths and ‘Akhaadaas’ are the spiritual centres of Hindu Dharma where religious activities are performed. It is also one of the places where ‘Kumbh-Mela’ is held. More than 3 crore devotees take the Holy ‘Gangajal’ with them from this place, but there are attempts to change the demography of this Holy pilgrimage place of Hindus as the Muslim population in Haridwar District is growing by 40% every ten years, as per the report published by Panchajanya, a periodical.
Muslim population likely to be 39% i.e., eight lakh in Haridwar !
The Muslim population in the Haridwar District was 4,78,000 in 2001. Which increased to 6,48,119 as per the census of 2011. It means that out of the District’s total population, 34.2% were Muslims. The Muslim population went up to 13.9% from 11.19% in the State. As per the projection for 2020, the Muslim population in Haridwar District was about 39%, and it will be about 22 lakhs by the end of this year, i.e., Muslims will be more than 8 lakh. This is resulting in bringing social and political changes in Haridwar District.
Illegal stay of Muslims supported by political parties including Congress !
Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, and Saharanpur Districts of Uttar Pradesh surround Haridwar District. The Muslim population is high in these Districts. Many industries came up as Uttarakhand State was created. Muslim contractors brought Muslim labourers from Districts like Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Saharanpur, etc. to Haridwar. The then Narayan Datta Tiwari’s Congress Government decided to allocate 70% of jobs in these industries to the local population, but the contractors, supplying labourers, managed to keep them out of this rule due to corruption. They claimed that the labourers brought by them from Uttar Pradesh were locals, and thus they complied with the requirement. Muslim labourers were also brought from UP, Bihar, and Assam for the mining work in River Ganga and her tributaries. They illegally started staying on the banks of the river. Now, they have even voter IDs. Leaders of Congress and other secular parties helped them in this illegal work.
Opposition by pro-Hindu organisations and BJP !
Crores of devotees go to Haridwar for ‘Kanwar Yatra’ every year. The people from the surrounding Districts of Haridwar used to make ‘Kanwar’ and other things required for the ‘Kanwar Yatra’. After the creation of Uttarakhand, however, those people also settled in the Haridwar District. The fact is the population has increased from Haridwar to Rishikesh region in the last twenty years. As a result, the construction workers, carpenters, fitters, etc. started settling outside ‘Kumbh’ area. In October 2019, BJP MLA Suresh Rathod from the Jwalapur constituency openly stated that the Muslim population was growing in the 67 km area on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar District and there should be investigations into those, who have gone and settled there. Even Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) drew the attention of the Uttarakhand Government to this issue.
BJP candidates are losing elections due to Muslims !
One of the main candidates of BJP viz Swami Yatishwaranandji Maharaj lost the State Assembly election from Haridwar rural constituency. BJP candidates Suresh Rathod and Sanjay Gupta also lost the election to Congress candidates at Jwalapur and Laksar respectively. In Khanpur, an independent candidate, Umesh Kumar, defeated the BJP candidate. It is inferred by the election analysers that owing to the increasing number of Muslim voters, BJP was losing seats. MLA Pradip Batra won with a margin of more than 12,000 votes in 2018 while in 2023, he won with a margin of only 2,200 votes. In other constituencies too, the difference is increasing for BJP’s defeat because the Muslim population is growing, and their votes are becoming decisive in election results.
Congress assures of safety to Muslims’ illegal habitation
Muslim population in Haridwar is mostly outside the city on the bank of Ganga and by encroaching railway land. It is said that the increase in population was high during the Congress regime. It is also said that there are Bangladeshis and Rohingyas among them who have been getting protection from Congress leaders. Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat is contesting the parliamentary election from Haridwar and during his regime, illegal Muslim colonies were regularised.
Increasing number of mosques !
As one gets out of the ‘Kumbh’ area of Haridwar, one sees tall ‘Minars’ of mosques on both sides of the national highway which didn’t exist earlier. Many times, the Muslims having shops in the ‘Kumbh’ area, are seen offering namaz on the roads and the administration has to take action. It is Ramzan month now. Haridwar administration removed loudspeakers from mosques and reminded the mosque attendants of the Court’s orders in this context.
Haridwar District made a part of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind (destruction of India)’ by Muslims !
Many people feel that jihadi factions have made Haridwar District, a part of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’. Three persons were arrested by the anti-terrorist squad here, last year. One among them named Ali Noor is a Bangladeshi. He was staying there under a false name and taught children in a madarasa. Mudassir from Roorkee, Sidqul from Kamil were also arrested with Noor. Director-General of Police Ashok Kumar confirmed that many organisations were active in Uttarakhand for ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’.
Non-Hindus be banned n Haridwar !
In 1916, when Haridwar was a small city, there was a contract between ‘Mahamanv’ Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and the British Government, under which in the 3 km area of ‘Har ki Pauri’, no non-Hindu was allowed to go. There is a note of this contract in the Code of Haridwar’s Municipal Corporation. At that time, it was natural that Haridwar was spread only over a circumference of 3 kms which has now grown too big. A similar law was also made for Rishikesh and a non-Hindu, if visiting Rishikesh, was not allowed to stay overnight in Rishikesh. The experts claim that non-Muslims are not allowed in Mecca and Medina, and non-Christians are not allowed to stay in Vatican City. On similar lines, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya had made such a contract with the British rulers based on faith. Sadhus and Seers are demanding a ban on non-Hindus in ‘Deva-bhumi’ Uttarakhand. It is now, time to pay attention to their demand. Else, it is feared that a pilgrimage place like Haridwar might become a part of ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’.