Devbhoomi’s descent: ‘State complicity’ in Uttarakhand’s siege on Muslims

This report is part of our Hindu Rashtra Project. Watch the other installments here.

In 2000, when Uttarakhand emerged from the administrative womb of Uttar Pradesh, the air was thick with possibility and a rallying cry: “Uttarakhand ke chaar sipaahi; Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Isaai” (Uttarakhand’s four soldiers; Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian).

Two and a half decades later, that slogan reads like a historical artifact. The territory that once symbolised inclusive movements has turned into a laboratory for systematic exclusion.

For this investigation, we traveled to remote corners of Uttarakhand – speaking to local residents, victims, and activists – to uncover a disturbing truth that mainstream media rarely touches. We found a systematic attempt to marginalise the Muslim community through a trifecta of propaganda: Love Jihad, Land Jihad, and Business Jihad.

From Rudraprayag, Nandanagar, Uttarkashi, and Nainital to Haridwar and Dehradun – we bring you chilling stories of attacks on Muslim traders, bulldozing of mosques and dargahs, and open threats demanding that minorities either leave or “live by the rules of the majority”.

And it’s not just fringe groups. Our report shows the complicity of state machinery – police inaction, political patronage, and selective law enforcement. In several instances, violence unfolded in front of law enforcement officers, FIRs were never filed, or if they were, no meaningful action followed.

We also expose how speeches calling for the genocide of Muslims are delivered openly by self-styled ‘protectors of the faith’ – with no repercussions, and in some cases, with the backing of those in power.

This is not just a film about one state’s changing identity, but also a constitutional promise.

Watch.