Himachal govt charging fee from Churdhar devotees, allege locals; BJP calls it jizya
The locals say the tax has been being charged for the past few days and opposed the move stating that people go to Churdhar for paying obeisance at the Shirgul Maharaj temple.
Officials, however, maintained that the user charge is imposed only on trekkers visiting the Churdhar wildlife sanctuary. People going to the Shirgul Maharaj temple has to pass through some portions of the sanctuary.
Nahan/Shimla, May 2 (PTI) A controversy has erupted in Himachal Pradesh with locals alleging that a 'user charge' has been imposed by the state government on people going to the Churdhar valley in Sirmaur district where there is an ancient temple, and the opposition BJP terming it as a 'fee on religious pilgrimage' and 'jizya tax'.
'The temple is a pilgrimage site and not a tourism place for us,' one of them said.
The locals are claiming that a tax ranging between Rs 20 and Rs 1000 is being collected by the wildlife department from April 20 from people going to the Churdhar valley.
Two meetings were held between the officials of wildlife department and residents of Nohradhar to reach a consensus as the locals are opposed to the move, said social activist Suresh Kumar Pundir.
'It is for the first time that a pilgrimage site has been taxed and we would go door to door against the decision of the government if it is not rolled back,' he added.
Blaming the Congress-led government for charging a fee from the devotees who visit Churdhar for paying obeisance at the Shirgul Maharaj temple, former chief minister Jai Ram Takur alleged the state has imposed a fee on religious pilgrimage by Hindus.
He also equated it with Muslim ruler Aurangzeb's imposition of jizya tax on the majority community.
The Churdhar peak in Sirmaur district is one of the highest peaks of Shivalik ranges located at a height of 11,965 feet. PTI BPL COR ZMN
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
26 minutes ago
- Time of India
Kashmir parties condemn Israel's attack on Iran
File photo: J&K CM Omar Abdullah (Picture credit: ANI) SRINAGAR: Political parties in Kashmir, including the governing National Conference, condemned Israel's attack on Iran on Friday, saying 'the silence of influential countries like the US on this issue is alarming'. J&K CM Omar Abdullah said Iran had not provoked Israel in any manner to justify its offensive and this amounted to waging war against another nation. 'What Israel has done is very similar to what Russia did in Ukraine,' he told reporters here. 'The world raised its voice against Russia and launched campaigns condemning its actions. But when Israel attacks Iran, global powers, including the US and European countries, remain silent. If it is wrong for one country to invade another in Russia's case, then it is equally unjustified for Israel to attack Iran,' he said. Omar said there would be immediate repercussions of the attack. 'It affects our fuel prices, impacts the stock market, disrupts flight routes to the West, and more importantly, it stirs public sentiment.' Slamming Israel, NC MP Aga Ruhullah said: 'Iran, like any sovereign nation, now has every right to defend itself and take full, punishing revenge. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Switch to UnionBank Rewards Card UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo The Zionist regime should pay for its crimes in Gaza, for its bloodlust, for its massacres.' PDP president Mehbooba Mufti wrote on X that Israel's attack is yet another brazen act by a state that 'appears to have gone rogue'. 'The silence of the global community, particularly western powers led by the United States, is both alarming and telling. This silence amounts to tacit approval. In the case of India-Pakistan tensions, the US never fails to assert that its intervention has been crucial in preventing escalation. Yet, when it comes to Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza or its latest strike on Iran, that same urgency is conspicuously missing,' Mehbooba said. She said equally disturbing is the 'deafening silence of the so-called Muslim countries, who remain shamelessly non-existent in the face of such grave injustice'. People's Conference's Imran Reza Ansari said the 'calculated act of aggression of Israel is not merely a political provocation but an assault on the very ideals of justice, sovereignty, and intellectual resistance'.
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Supriya Sule rules out alliance with Ajit Pawar or BJP in upcoming municipal elections
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Supriya Sule has ruled out any alliance with the Ajit Pawar-led NCP or Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the upcoming municipal elections. Sule is on a tour of Pune district during which she visited newly-appointed municipal commissioner Naval Kishore Ram to discuss various issues related to her Lok Sabha (LS) constituency, Baramati. Sule told media persons: 'In a democracy, there should be dialogue. We should meet all party leaders and this is Maharashtra's tradition. But in the coming elections, we will never go with the BJP.' Recently, state president of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, Sunil Tatkare, had said, 'We have entered an alliance with the BJP and we will remain with them. If someone wants to join us, they should accept this principle.' Whereas the city president of the NCP (SP), Prashant Jagtap, said, 'Supriya Sule has made it clear that there will be no alliance with the BJP or Ajit Pawar-led party. We are prepared to contest the municipal elections and ready to face them.' For the last few weeks, there have been rumours about the likelihood of both NCP factions coming together. Recently however, both parties celebrated 'Foundation Day' in Pune, sending out a clear message that there will be no merger of the two factions. It is now clear that the two NCP factions will contest the upcoming civic elections separately and against each other.
Time of India
40 minutes ago
- Time of India
UK: Three British Hindus beaten up in London park in racially motivated attack
This is an AI-generated image, used for representational purposes only LONDON: Three British Hindu men were asked their ethnicity in a London park and, when they replied they were Indian and Sri Lankan, were viciously beaten up in an unprovoked attack by three older men who appeared to be Muslim, it has emerged. Two of the men suffered blows to the head and were left unconscious; all had to go to Northwick Park Hospital. They have all been left with cuts and bruises and two have been left with facial fractures. Tory MP Bob Blackman raised the case in the House of Commons on Thursday, describing it as 'religious hatred.' TOI has now tracked down the sister of one of the men, a British Indian Gujarati Hindu, aged 20, a first-year university student studying radiography. It turns out he had gone to Harrow Recreation Ground with two friends on May 30 to play cricket. The friends are British Hindus of Sri Lankan descent, aged 20 and 21. The three of them went to a shop at 6 pm, walking past a café where a group of around eight people were seated. It appeared to be a Muslim family, with some of the women wearing hijabs. They looked back at their other friends playing cricket when one of the men outside the café got up and confronted the three Hindus and asked them why they were looking at his family, his sister told TOI. They replied that they were not looking at his family and were looking at friends playing cricket. Then a slightly older man from the café group came over and asked: 'What is your problem? Why are you talking to my brother?' The three men tried to defuse the situation and the two men seemed to accept their answer. They went back to the park and sat on a bench. Around 30 minutes later, three men from the cafe group, in their mid to late 20s, came over and became very aggressive, asking, 'Where are you from? Are you Sri Lankan? Are you Indian?' To which one of the Sri Lankan-origin men replied: 'Yes, we are.' The three men then beat them up relentlessly, punching and kicking them until the British Indian and his friend were left lying unconscious on the ground, the sister said. 'My brother was wearing a sacred thread from a mandir on his wrist,' the sister said. One of the attackers was wearing a Moroccan football T-shirt with the number 2 and the word 'Hakimi'. Police and ambulances arrived and the British Indian was taken to the hospital. The other two had to make their own way there. 'My brother is struggling. He feels as if people are looking at him and is ashamed to step out of the house. He has never been involved in a fight before,' the sister told TOI on Friday. 'He has just done his first-year exams and was meant to resume his two-week clinical placement the week after the attack and that has been put on hold.' She also said she was unhappy with how the police investigation was progressing, as two weeks later, they still had not examined CCTV footage. The Met Police told TOI they were called to deal with a 'fight' and one man was taken to hospital 'with a head injury'. 'There is no evidence at this time that this attack was racially motivated. Our enquiries into the circumstances continue. No arrests have been made,' a spokesperson said.
