On April 25, a Muslim fruit vendor was harassed under the pretext of naming his shop Lakshmi.’ The incident occurred at Dharampur Chowk, Dehradun, Uttarakhand when far-right leader Radha Semwal Dhoni led a group of people outside the vendor’s establishment. The men with her reportedly can be seen taking down the shop’s banner and also picking up what seems like the shop’s fruit. Semwal can be seen repeatedly asking the men their names and asking who the shop belongs to, “Who does the shop belong to, does it belong to a Hindu?”, and then goes on to say, “If you are Musalman, then you put your shop in your own name. If someone comes to your shop, they will come after looking at the name.”
The vendor has claimed that the name of the shop was Lakshmi because he was renting the shop from a Hindu landlord.
In #Uttarakhand‘s #Dehradun, a #Muslim fruit vendor on Thursday harassed for naming his shop “Lakshmi.”
A group of miscreants led by #Hindutva leader Radha Semwal Dhoni created ruckus outside his shop.
The vendor said that he was renting the shop from a #Hindu landlord. pic.twitter.com/VCSMivDs0P
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) April 25, 2024
In June 2023, Radha Semwal Dhoni once again made headlines for targeting Muslim traders in a live stream on Facebook. In this livestream, she shot three men casually sipping tea and asked about their names and place of origin. She then went on to ask them to show their identification documents. She snatches their documents from them and shows them to the camera, she also finds a rental certificate, and tried to portray that these men had ‘invaded’ into their villages by renting accommodations from locals for a sum of money and stated, “They have invaded our villages now and for some thousand rupees these villagers are giving them places on rent. Now I will have to complain against them, or we will have to send their bahu-beti with them.”
She singled out one of the men, accusing him of lying about his place of origin. She demanded to see what he was selling and repeatedly asserted that he had lied to her about where he was from. When he attempted to explain, Radha threatened him by saying, “I will push you off this ledge if you lie to me”.
Describing herself as a ‘sanatani’, Semwal has over 31,000 followers on her Instagram page. She has claimed herself as the ‘protector of Uttarakhand which is a land of gods.’ Dhoni is known for proudly sharing videos of her confrontations with minorities on her Facebook profile. Her tactics reportedly include targeting small-scale Muslim traders, particularly hawkers. Additionally, she has uploaded videos claiming that mazaars (Muslim shrines) across Uttarakhand are illegal and have encroached upon government lands. She has consistently made efforts to portray the idea that Hindus are under attack in the country.
Sabrang India reported last year in February 2023, about a disturbing video which surfaced on social media showing the verbal and physical abuse of three Christians in Jhajra district of Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The video shows Radha Semwal Dhoni, a leader of a Hindutva group, verbally abusing and physically assaulting the Christians, accusing them of forcefully converting people.
In the video, Dhoni can be seen thrashing the young men while hurling accusations of religious conversion against them. Semwal was even videotaping the entire incident and did not seem to have any sense of apprehension when the police arrived and enquired about the situation. The police on arrival even seem to question the group of Christians as Semwal tells the officials that the Christians men need to be taken to the police station. Further, she also stated that she will also accompany the police in taking the men to the station and will submit their mobile phones too for evidence.
According to a report by The Quint, she has blamed the BJP for not doing ‘enough.’ She has also, as per the report, attacked Hindus dairy farmers as well, accusing them too of cow slaughter. “Look at this, Hindus are now taking cows to be killed. This isn’t Afghanistan.”
Related:
U’khand: Hate offender Radha Semwal doxes Muslim traders in live stream on Facebook
Radha Semwal Dhoni: Emerging far right menace in Uttarakhand
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