Right-wing group threatens minority shop owners, demand eviction

Shop owners from the minority community residing in Himachal Pradesh’s Paonta Sahib area were threatened to clear their shops and leave the area by far-right Hindutva elements.

A video dated March 24 has emerged on social media platforms where Rakesh Tomar, the founder of the far-right Hindutva group Rudrasena, is seen threatening a few Muslim shop owners, asking them to vacate their shops within seven days.

Tomar inquires of one of the Muslim shop owners about his family and where they reside. When the shopkeeper replies that his family, consisting of his wife and sons, resides in Roorkee in Uttarakhand, Tomar immediately questions why the shopkeeper’s name is in the list of permanent residents.

“How are you able to list yourself among permanent residents when you do not have a land of your own?” questions Tomar.

When the Muslim shopkeeper replied that all proper documents had been submitted to the district administration of Paonta Sahib, Tomar lost his cool and threatened him to vacate the shop.

“You need to assure us that you will cancel your names from the list of permanent residents. You have to go to the police station and submit a written application regarding this. That application should be submitted to us also,” Tomar is seen raising his voice to the Muslim shop keepers.

When Siasat.com tried to contact the SHO of Paonta Sahib police station about the incident, they did not respond. This copy will be updated as soon as a response is heard from the concerned police officer.