Islamophobic Remarks :
As the 10th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami is an Indian politician and a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Since 2012, he has participated in the Uttarakhand Legislative Assembly. He was re-instated as Chief Minister by BJP MLAs after losing his seat in the 2022 elections, making him the state’s only Chief Minister to hold the position for two terms in a row since its founding.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s student section, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Dhami started his political career in 1990. In 2001, he also served as an advisor to Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, the then-chief minister of Uttarakhand.
In addition to being active in the spread of conspiracy theories and hate speech against Muslims in his state, Dhami has come under fire for his silence on these issues. He has been linked to Hindu extremist figures like Yati Narsinghanand, a militant Hindu monk who advocated for the genocidal killing of Indian Muslims in 2021 at a Hindu extremist assembly. Dhami was once seen respectfully placing her hands on Narsinghanand’s feet in a photo.
Dhami has brushed aside complaints about communal polarization in the state as “motivated,” despite appeals from a number of human rights organizations. 42 attorneys and legal rights advocates from over the nation wrote an open letter to Dhami in June 2022, requesting that he take action against people who propagate hate speech and call for the extermination of the Muslim minority. However, Dhami did not act on their request.
Dhami spread the “Land Jihad” conspiracy theory against Muslims in April 2023, claiming that they “encroach” on land by building shrines “illegally.” He said that he would issue an order to demolish these temples and that his government would “not let ‘land jihad’ prosper.”
Numerous anti-Muslim gatherings have been planned across Uttarakhand under Dhami’s direction, including an openly called for Muslim genocide at the 2021 Dharma Sansads (Hindu religious parliament). Ministers Dhami’s administration has taken part in these kinds of gatherings, spreading hateful beliefs about Muslims and lurid tales like “land jihad” and “love jihad,” alleging that Muslims are trying to change the state’s religious composition through population growth.
Citing the “love jihad” conspiracy idea, Dhami instructed senior police officers to take strong action against Muslim men who were allegedly in relationships with Hindu women in June 2023.
In October 2023, at a gathering held by the Bajrang Dal in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, Dhami disseminated conspiracy theories about Muslims, such as “Love Jihad” and “Land Jihad.” He declared that a large number of unlawfully constructed Muslim graves and shrines had been demolished by his government, and he vowed to impose a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) on the state, a notion supported by the Hindu right to limit the freedom of religion of minority communities.