Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 31: At least two persons, including a home guard jawan, were killed and 50 others, including about a dozen policemen, injured after violence erupted in Muslim-dominated Nuh district in Haryana on Monday during Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra with the armed mob attacking the procession and setting the vehicles on fire.
As communal violence flared in the district, internet services were suspended, prohibitory orders were imposed, and the state Home Minister sought additional forces from the Centre, claiming that “3,000-4,000 persons were being held hostage in a temple.”
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been imposed in the district to prevent the assembly of five or more people, Deputy Commissioner Prashant Panwar said.
Around 2,500 men, women and children had taken shelter at Nalhar temple and remained trapped inside, surrounded by the mob, for around five hours near Haryana’s Gurugram as massive violence was in progress outside. Stones were being thrown and cars set on fire. The police, who have already used teargas and fired shots in the air,
The police reinforcement called from neighbouring four districts rescued them. Speaking over phone from inside the temple, the VHP Gurugram president Ajit Yadav said the devotees rushed to the temple attacked by the mob around 2 p.m. “While we remained stranded inside waiting for the police to rescue us, the mob outside went on rampage setting vehicles on fire. We could hear the gunshots as well,” claimed Yadav.
Tension was brewing in the region after Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar in a video on social media a few days back claimed that he and his team would be part of the procession. Manesar, the Muslims in the area believed, was the mastermind in the alleged kidnapping and murder of two young Muslim boys in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur over suspicion of cow smuggling in February this year. The locals opposed Monu’s visit to Nuh because of his alleged involved in the murder case saying that it would disturb communal harmony in the region.
According to eye-witnesses, the violence broke out around noon when around half-a-dozen vehicles, including a black Sports Utility Vehicle, carrying devotees reached Nuh Chowk leading to rumours that Monu Manesar was inside one of the vehicles. “The vehicles had ‘Gorakshak’ written on them fuelling rumours that Monu Manesar was inside them. As soon as the vehicles reached Nuh Chowk, a handful of teenagers pelted stones on the vehicles. Soon, the mob from the neighbouring villages descended on the road and went on the rampage,” said Gurugram’s Pintu Singh, 36, who sustained a shrapnel injury in the attack. He along with other devotees then took shelter at a nearby a Women Police Station.
In the videos of the violence emerging from Nuh on social media, the mob carrying lathis could be seen stone pelting on the vehicles and setting them afire. Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made an appeal for peace saying all issues could be resolved with dialogue. The procession being taken out in Nuh annually for the past three years begins with the offering of holy water at a temple in Nalhar before it culminates at Punhana.
Political activist Yogendra Yadav, in a press statement, said the “clash between two communities” in Nuh was much-awaited riot that the BJP had been trying to engineer in Mewat region. “The ‘Shobha Yatra’ was calculated to create communal violence, very provocative videos were issued in the last two days. Despite this knowledge and apprehension the administration allowed the yatra to enter Mewat. And when violence began, the administration simply collapsed, police disappeared,” Yadav alleged.
Towards evening, violence spread to the Gurugram-Sohna highway where several cars were torched and stones were thrown at the police, sources said. The police lobbed teargas shells to disperse crowd and summoned troops from other areas as the two sides hurled stones at each other injuring about 50 people.
The Haryana home minister Anil Vij said the government has sent additional troops from neighbouring districts. “Our first priority is to bring situation under control. We are appealing to all to maintain peace. We are also trying to send forces by helicopter,” he said. He further said he spoke to the director general of police, additional chief secretary, and other senior officials over the incident.
Congress MLA from Nuh, Aftab Ahmed said, “We are appealing to people to maintain peace and not pay heed to rumours. The situation is unfortunate. I have never seen such failure of administration and police.”