‘I was told I’d be killed if I didn’t leave’: Himalayan state is a testing ground for Modi’s nationalism

It was at the Haridwar gathering that the idea of Uttarakhand being a Hindu Dev Bhoomi, [God’s land], began to gain public prominence: that of a holy state just for Hindus, where Muslims had no right to exercise their religion or, in the eyes of some, exist at all. The same priests who took part in the dharma sansad warned that “Dev Bhoomi has come under the control of jihadis”, a thinly veiled slur for Muslims, and called for the state to be protected by any means necessary.