Bulle Shah, the Sufi mystic known as the ‘father of Punjabi enlightenment’ is revered by Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims alike for his powerful poetry championing love, unity and spiritual freedom. On 24 January, a handful of fanatics belonging to the Hindu Raksha Dal broke into the Wynberg-Allen school in Mussoorie and demolished his shrine, claiming that the 100-year old structure was an illegal encroachment on their ‘Devbhoomi.’ They were so confident that no action would be taken against them that they even uploaded a video of demolishing it with hammer and rods. The Uttarakhand police registered FIRs against three individuals but made no arrests.

In November 2025, another century-old mazaar, located inside Doon School, was demolished at the behest of another Hindutva group led by hatemonger Radha Dhoni who heads Sanatan Sanskriti, a right-wing organisation whose reason for existence seems to be to target Muslim shopkeepers, road side chaiwalas and rehriwalas (street vendors).

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, whose son is a student at Doon School, takes pride in informing the public that over 400 ‘illegally constructed’ mazaars have been demolished during his tenure. Leaning on a survey undertaken by his own officials (you can imagine how objective that would be) Dhami claims his government has recovered 5,000 acres from ‘land jihadists’.

Two enterprising activists decided to get to the truth behind this relentless anti-Muslim propaganda. They travelled the length and breadth of Uttarakhand to document how Muslims have been victims of violence between 2021-25 with several hundred being forced to flee their homes to become refugees in their own country. The report titled ‘Excluded, targeted and displaced: Communal narratives and violence in Uttarakhand’ was published on 22 January by the Association of Protection of Civil Rights (APCR). It reinforces our worst fears about how a peaceful state has mutated into a hot bed of fanaticism.

The hatemongering........

© National Herald