Right-Wing Group Performs ‘Shuddhikaran’ at Haldwani Ram Lila Ground

A political controversy erupted in Uttarakhand after members of Shri Ram Sena Dharmarth Seva Nyas Sangathan performed a ‘shuddhikaran’ (purification) ritual at Haldwani’s Ram Lila Ground on August 10, two days after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a public rally at the venue.

Group Objects to Political Rally at Religious Venue

The organisation said the ritual was conducted in protest against the use of the Ram Lila Ground for political purposes. Girsh Chandra Pandey, a member of the organisation, said the ground has religious and cultural significance and should not be used for political programmes.

“Ram Lila Ground is meant for religious and cultural events and should not be given to political parties,” Pandey said. He also alleged that slogans raised during Kharge’s August 8 rally “sounded like Islamic slogans” and referred to Kharge’s earlier criticism of the BJP and RSS.

Congress Calls Ritual an Insult to Dalits

The ritual drew a sharp response from Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal, who described it as an insult to the Scheduled Caste community. Godiyal also accused the BJP of being behind the event, while questioning the police response.

“The act was carried out at BJP’s behest,” Godiyal alleged. He questioned Nainital SSP T.C. Manjunath over what he described as the police’s failure to act against those conducting the ritual, while alleging that Congress workers had faced active restrictions during Kharge’s rally.

BJP Denies Role, Accuses Congress of Hurting Religious Sentiments

BJP Cabinet Minister and state spokesperson Khajan Das denied any connection between the party and the organisers of the ritual, calling the Congress allegations “baseless, false, and misleading.”

Das, however, defended the objections surrounding the Congress rally, saying political slogans at the Ram Lila Ground had hurt Sanatan sentiments. He accused the Congress of attempting to divert attention from the slogans by turning the controversy into a caste issue.

The competing claims have turned the ‘shuddhikaran’ ritual into a wider political dispute over the religious identity of public spaces, the use of such venues for political events and allegations of caste-based discrimination.