The BJP has urged Uttarakhand’s minority population to oppose community members allegedly involved in fuelling communal disharmony in the state. State BJP president Mahendra Bhatt and other party leaders alleged that outsiders are behind incidents such as love jihad and encouraging vendors to spit into teapots.

Bhatt stated, “Police investigation has now proven that those involved in incidents such as spitting into teapots in Mussoorie and love jihad across the state belong to a particular community and do not hail from Uttarakhand. This is a conspiracy by outsiders to disturb peace and harmony in the state.”

The state BJP chief was speaking about the arrest of two tea vendors — Naushad Ali and Hasan Ali, hailing from Muzaffarnagar — by the Mussoorie Police on October 9 after a video of them spitting into teapots before serving tea went viral. The arrests were made following a complaint by one Himanshu Bishnoi, who recorded the video. In his complaint, Bishnoi claimed that he saw one of the accused spitting into the teapot before he recorded the video.

Bhatt stated that Uttarakhand’s local Muslim population is well aware of the social fabric of Devbhoomi and cannot be involved in such incidents. “Members of a particular community must identify and oppose those trying to disturb the state. He welcomed the local minority community’s demand for strict action against the arrested accused men in Mussoorie, noting that Muslims living in the state for generations respect the traditions and beliefs of Uttarakhand,” he added.

Bhatt further stated that Muslims in Uttarakhand must distance themselves from political parties that shelter anti-social elements from outside the state for the sake of vote-bank politics.

BJP’s state media in charge and senior spokesperson Manvir Singh Chauhan stated, “The two men arrested in the Mussoorie teapot spitting case, as well as those accused of raping a minor girl at Tharali in Chamoli, and in love jihad cases in Purola and Karnprayag, belong to a particular community but are not from Uttarakhand. They are outsiders. Locals from this locality must oppose their brethren from outside the state who are attempting to disturb communal peace.”

BJP leaders in Dehradun said that they will also appeal to Uttarakhand locals from the minority community to join hands with them in condemning the alleged incidents of love jihad, land jihad, and other anti-social activities by community members coming to the state from other parts of the country.