Haldwani

Maharaj Ji's...

I was doing my first job in Haldwani and then...

Our car, a few friends, we were travelling to random places near Nainital and our car suddenly stops at a place and then the rain stops and the sunlight comes because we were not able to see anything before.

I open my door and my door opens under Ketchidham's gate.

[intro music] Good morning and welcome to The Print AM.

This is Aatish Man Ganguly, and today we are going to talk about Haldwani Shuddhikaran row.

Kharge seeks FIR, questions Nadda over delayed action.

Congress President and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Union Minister JP Nadda seeking a first information report against those involved in the purification ceremony at Ramlila Maidan in Haldwani after his eighth August public meeting there.

In the second September letter, Kharge reminded Nadda of the assurance he gave in the Rajya Sabha on thirteenth August that the matter would be looked into and action taken against those responsible.

Kharge has now questioned the delay in action, saying twenty-four days have passed since the incident.

"I am surprised that even after twenty-four days of this incident, an FIR has not been registered against the concerned organizations and individuals who carried out this reprehensible act in Haldwani," he wrote.

Kharge said what happened at the rally venue could not be separated from the constitutional values of equality and dignity.

[upbeat music] Hi, I am Niharika Nanda, and you are listening to Three Things, the Indian Express news show.

Earlier this month, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally at Haldwani's Ramlila Maidan, and two days later, on tenth August, an organization called Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas conducted what it called a Shuddhikaran Havan at the same venue.

Shuddhikaran is, like, you basically try to purify the place, if you put it in very factual terms.

That's the Indian Express' Asad Rehman.

So you try to purify the place because it has become impure.

So this purification or Shuddhikaran ritual, which was done, also had a Havan there.

And the next day, Congress President Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition, Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge, raised this in the Rajya Sabha, saying that he was deeply hurt by what had happened in Haldwani and that it was a form of untouchability.

Now, at that moment, Union Minister, and who also happens to be the Leader of the House in the Rajya Sabha, Mr. JP Nadda, he got up and spoke, and he said that the BJP does not support this, and, uh, that it was unfortunate that it had happened the way Kharge described it in the Rajya Sabha.

Correct.

This stems from a highly publicized incident in Haldwani where individuals allegedly purified a rally venue right after it was used by Congress President Malikarjun Kargay.

What really stands out to me in The Times of India's coverage isn't just the incident itself, but the timeline.

Priyanka Gandhi pointed out that 20 days have passed with zero police action.

... there's this dispute over alleged caste exclusion unfolding in Uttarakhand right now.

Yes, the Haldwani situation.

And I have to admit, looking at the timeline of this dispute, I am highly skeptical of the political mechanics at play here.

How so?

Well, we are talking about a controversy stemming from an event on August 10th in Haldwani, but Rahul Gandhi is demanding an FIR now weeks later.

Wow.

The delay alone just makes you question the underlying strategy.

The timeline is absolutely the focal point of the pushback.