A week after a teenage Muslim boy was beaten up for ‘drinking tap water’ at a Hindu temple, right-wing outfit Hindu Yuva Vahini members have put up banners at over 150 temples in Dehradun, reading: “Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter”.
The members of Hindu Yuva Vahini told the Times of India that they plan to put up such banners in temples across Uttarakhand. Currently, the banners have been put up at temples situated in Chakrata Road, Suddhowala, and Prem Nagar areas of Dehradun.
Last week, a teenager was assaulted for drinking tap water at the Dasna Devi temple in Dasna, Ghaziabad. As per the newspaper, the temple has a board that says that “Muslims are not allowed inside” which has been put up on the directions of the temple’s head priest (mahant) Yati Narasimhanand Saraswati.
Jeetu Randhawa, state general secretary of Hindu Yuva Vahini, told the newspaper that the step has been taken to extend support to Yati Narasimhanand Saraswati. Incidentally, after the incident involving the teenage boy, BSP MLA from Dhaulana Aslam Chaudhary had alleged that the temple belonged to his ancestors, adding that he will remove the posters banning the entry of non-Hindus into the temple.
Randhawa alleged that “in order to counter Aslam’s threat, we will now put up such posters outside every temple in Uttarakhand.” “The temple is a revered place for people who believe in the Sanatan dharma and hence, only those people who belong to this religion will be allowed inside,” said Randhawa.
