February 8 was one of the worst days in the history of Uttarakhand. A violent mob erupted after the administration conducted a demolition drive where a mosque and a madrasa stood in the Banbhoolpura area of Haldwani.
As per reports, two people have been killed and several injured. The mob has damaged several properties, including private vehicles. Now the government has imposed a complete curfew in Haldwani, and only the emergency services will be working in the state.
Vandana Singh, the Nainital District Magistrate, held a press conference on February 9. She revealed that the demolition drive was not targeted towards a particular property, and for the last 15-20 days there had been a drive in Haldwani in connection with Nagar Nigam properties and to free the roads from traffic congestion.
However, some people are questioning the administration regarding the action. To maintain law and order, paramilitary forces like ITBP have been deployed in the city.
Who is Shadab Chauhan?
Now, after all this, a man named Shadab Chauhan is trending on social media. Some people online are claiming that he is behind all these riots. Shadab Chauhan is the Chief Spokesperson of the Peace Party. He is often seen in television debates, and some of his tweets are said to be very violent.
A tweet from Shadab is going viral, where he can be seen calling out the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami. Shadab tweeted that nobody can stop Indian Muslims from following the path of Allah; he also said Dhami does not have any idea of the power of the Muslim population.
After violent Haldwani riots, #ArrestShadabChauhan is trending online. Shadab Khan is very open about his ideologies; he recently wrote a post in support of Mufti Salman Azhari, who was arrested for hate speech.
Is Shadab behind the Haldwani Riots?
The Uttarakhand Police or anyone from the authority has not taken Shadab Chauhan’s name behind the riots. Shadab made several posts in which he stated that peace should be restored and that the safety of every human being is most important.
He also said he appeals to the people of Uttarakhand to maintain peace and to the Uttarakhand government to conduct an impartial investigation into the incident as to what caused the situation to deteriorate and who are the people behind it.
He also questioned the Uttarakhand government: Was there any haste shown in demolishing the madrasa? Was there a stay order? Or, what is the truth? An impartial investigation is necessary. He expressed his condolences to people who were injured and lost their lives in the entire incident, whether it was the people of our police force or the common people.