Shimla: Political parties come together to check communal unrest, appeal for peace

Leaders of all political parties today came together and urged people to maintain peace and communal harmony, as the unrest over the construction of an “illegal” mosque in Shimla city spread to other parts of the state.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu chaired the all-party meeting held here and state Congress president Pratibha Singh, BJP’s Naina Devi MLA Randhir Sharma, former CPM MLA Rakesh Singha, CPM leader Surjit Singh Thakur and CPI leader KK Kaushal attended it. The meeting was convened in the light of sporadic protests by locals against an “illegal” mosque threatening communal harmony.

Sukhu said that all issues concerning the unrest were discussed in detail and all parties jointly issued a statement, urging people in Himachal to maintain peace and uphold the highest traditions of peace and communal harmony that the state was known for. “Everyone felt that an early decision for the settlement of the ongoing dispute over a mosque in Sanjauli (Shimla) must be taken,” he added.

He said, “Himachal is known for respecting every religion, faith and community, so we all must maintain communal harmony.” All leaders agreed that a street vendor policy should be framed by a committee to be constituted by the Vidhan Sabha Speaker so that the antecedents of all those coming to the state for work could be verified.

Sukhu said that it was totally wrong to give a communal colour to the protests, as it was not a religious issue and the Vidhan Sabha committee was not for mandir or masjid but for framing a policy for street vendors. He refused to be drawn into a controversy over queries whether any political party was responsible for the mosque dispute and protests. He added that it was better to forget what anyone had said in the past “as now everyone has agreed to forge harmony”.

He assured the meeting that action against illegal construction would be taken as per the land record and law though some Muslim representatives had offered to demolish some portions of the mosques in Shimla and Mandi. He added that all parties asserted that there was no restriction on anyone from any part of country working in the state but it must be within the framework of law. However, everyone must refrain from making remarks that could hurt the sentiments of people of any particular community or faith.

Sukhu said, “It is due to one incident in Shimla where locals staged protests that now people in other parts of the state are also protesting. We must bear in mind that we do not hurt anyone’s sentiments, especially local traders, shopkeepers and community.” He added, “Himachal believes in secularism and nobody, including the government, political leaders or locals, have the right to hurt the sentiments of the people of any religion or community.”

He said that local residents also faced problems when vendors sit in front of shops, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk on roads. “Everyone has the right to work in Himachal but within the framework of law,” he added.

Cong govt stopped verification of migrants in state: Jai Ram

• Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur on Friday accused the Congress government of stopping the verification and registration of migrants coming to the state
• He claimed that the verification and registration of migrants was being carried out during the previous BJP government. He questioned the Congress government’s intention behind stopping the process
• Now such a situation has arisen that a minister had to raise questions about the identity and antecedents of the migrants residing in the state, he said
• Thakur said that every citizen of the country had the right to earn his livelihood in any part of the country, but it had to be done in a proper and legal manner
• It’s precisely for this reason that the security agencies have developed mechanism for verification of migrants.
• The Leader of Opposition said that government should seal the Sanjauli mosque if it was constructed illegally on its land