Nihang Group Goes on Rampage in Uttarakhand, Tensions Rise Between Ruling Party and Opposition

Law and order and politics in the state have come to a head after a group of Nihangs went on a rampage in Uttarakhand. On the night of 25 June, Nihangs openly brandishing weapons broke through police barricades at the Kulhal outpost along the Himachal border in Vikasnagar area of Dehradun. After this incident, while the police have booked the miscreants under serious sections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called it a conspiracy to disturb the peace of Devbhumi. According to information, a group of Nihangs from Mohali (Punjab) was moving towards Chamoli via Dehradun. When the administration got wind of this, PAC, ITBP and civil police were deployed at the Kulhal barrier. The police appealed to the Nihangs to travel peacefully and without weapons in small groups. But the Nihangs remained adamant. When the police saw them on the new Ballupur-Paonta stretch, they stopped the policemen with swords, spears and spears, and started vandalising the police barricades.