Ritual purification of Haldwani Ram Lila Ground sparks Uttarakhand political clash
A right-wing group performed a purification ceremony at Haldwani’s Ram Lila Ground after a Congress rally, prompting accusations and counter-accusations between Congress and the BJP.
On Aug 10, a faction of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan conducted a hawan to “purify” the Ram Lila Ground in Haldwani, two days after Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a crowd there. The group argued the site should be reserved for religious and cultural purposes and said slogans raised during Kharge’s Aug 8 speech resembled Islamic chants. Girsh Chandra Pandey defended the ritual, referencing Kharge’s earlier remarks against the BJP and RSS.
Congress state president Ganesh Godiyal denounced the ceremony as a direct affront to the Scheduled Caste community and accused the BJP of orchestrating it, also faulting Nainital SSP T C Manjunath for inaction. BJP cabinet minister and state spokesperson Khajan Das dismissed the claims as baseless, accusing the opposition of stoking caste divisions to distract from controversial slogans at the rally. The episode has intensified political tensions in Uttarakhand.
Why it matters
The incident highlights how cultural sites become flashpoints in India’s partisan and caste-based politics.
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