An image showing silhouettes of protesters. For representational purposes.
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Nahan: Traders observed a half-day bandh in Shillai in Himachal Pradesh's Nahan district on Saturday and thousands took out a protest march against the illegal construction of mosques across the state and influx of outsiders belonging to a particular community, police said.
Those leading the protest submitted to Shillai SDM a memorandum on the matter, addressed to Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla.
The Shillai Vyopar Mandal said it called the strike to press its demands to immediately remove illegally built or unauthorised mosques in different places and unearth the conspiracy behind the alleged attempt to change Himachal Pradesh's demography by pushing outsiders of a particular community into the state in large numbers.
Thousands of residents from different villages of Shillai subdivision assembled at the Shillai PWD guest house and took out a protest march to the office of Shillai SDM through the main market, raising slogans calling for Hindu unity.
Over a dozen leaders of different Hindu and social welfare organisations addressed the protest rally at the PWD guest house ground and demanded immediate removal of illegal mosque structures in the state.
The leaders alleged that they had noticed the large-scale presence of outsiders in the Shillai area. They said this sudden surge in the number of outsiders was surprising as it is not normal and accused the police of negligence in conducting proper verification.
They also demanded that the district administration made public the details of the land and properties held by the Waqf Board.
The leaders also demanded a high-level inquiry into the "well-planned conspiracy" by a particular community to change the demography of Himachal Pradesh by pushing a large number of outsiders into the state.
They demanded that antecedents of migrants working or living in the state be verified properly.
Demands for mandatory verification and registration of migrant workers have gained momentum following the recent dispute over unauthorised mosques in the state.