Rudraprayag (Uttarakhand): Rudraprayag District Magistrate Vishal Mishra on Monday asked residents not to give credence to circulating reports that a Gurdwara in Nagrasu had been seized or that anyone had been taken hostage, while acknowledging that a dispute did take place inside the shrine.
Mishra said the Gurdwara’s management committee is operating normally and regular religious activities have resumed. “A dispute erupted at a Gurdwara in Nagrasu between Nihang Sikhs, the Gurdwara management and the Sikh sevadars who live there. The Ardaas, Langar and prayers at the Gurdwara are all running smoothly and peacefully. The movement of people through the Gurdwara is also continuing normally. No one is facing any problems,” DM Mishra told ANI.
He urged people to ignore alarmist claims about a takeover or violent incident. “Don’t pay attention to rumours that the Gurdwara has been taken over, that someone has been taken hostage, or that any violence has occurred. No such incident has taken place. The Gurdwara’s management committee is operating in a completely peaceful environment. There are no problems of any kind,” he added.
Clash Inside Shrine
Baba Beant Singh, the granthi responsible for managing Gurdwara Nagrasu, presented a contrasting account, saying a group of people who had been sheltered and fed at the shrine became aggressive. He alleged they assaulted volunteers, damaged the premises and pelted stones at police and local residents from upper floors.
Singh said the group arrived on June 20 and began creating problems almost immediately by fighting and mistreating volunteers, but were still allowed to stay and were given food. “They came here the day before yesterday and started fighting. They started beating and abusing the volunteers. Even then, we let them stay overnight and provided them with food. They started fighting with us again the next morning. Still, we tried to reason with them and make them leave,” he alleged.
According to Singh, tensions escalated on the morning of June 21 during a fresh clash with volunteers, and the management attempted to get the group to depart peacefully. “When we were leaving, they saw the police outside. They thought they were there to arrest them because they had been up to nefarious activities. So they went straight up to the fifth floor. They took over the place, broke the walls, and started throwing stones at us, the police, the people outside and the shopkeepers. We have covered this incident with our drones,” he added.
Damage & Disruption
Singh further accused the group of cutting off the Gurdwara’s water supply, destroying all the solar panels on the building and continuing to vandalise the property through the night. “They haven’t taken food from us, saying that they doubt that we would poison their food. They’ve cut off our water supply. They’ve destroyed the entire building’s solar panels. They’ve been vandalising all night. They’ve caused us losses worth lakhs,” Singh alleged.
In response to the unrest, the Uttarakhand government suspended internet services in the area from Saturday night until Sunday afternoon. The situation has since stabilised and is currently normal.
