NEW DELHI, Aug 30: Posters have come up in some Muslim-dominated slum areas in Gurugram in Haryana warning them to vacate their “homes” in two days or “face bad consequences.”
The police said they have removed the posters and looking for the unknown people who have installed such posters, but fear has spread among the residents who are living there for years, though the slums were said to be illegal.
Muslims living and working in Gurugram apparently continue to be the target of hate crimes. The posters threatening the residents had come up in sector 69A of the ‘mega city’ where a majority of the residents of the slum are Muslims. There were also posters specifically targeting Muslim women. The posters – which also demanding the slum dwellers leave the hovels they call home – read – “Slum dwellers… you need to vacate homes in two days and leave… otherwise you may have to face bad consequences. If you want to save your honour… you have 2 days…”
Local police removed the posters and filed a case, but not before panic and fear spread in the community. “We have removed the posters and started investigating the matter,” Assistant Commissioner of Police Manoj Kumar said. He also declared the slums were “illegal.” So far the police have not made any arrests and have not been able to identify those responsible.
The slum may be an illegal construction but the people who call it home have lived there for years, with many – especially the women – working as domestic help in nearby high-rise apartment complexes. And, understandably, many are terrified after the posters emerged. “We are more afraid for our children. When my husband and I go to work… the children are here alone. We had gone to the village after the riots but now, these posters have come up,” some women said. “We are scared… have lived here for many years,” said others.
After the communal violence in neighbouring Nuh in July – in which six people were killed – parts of Gurugram are on edge, particularly amid reports of attacks on Muslim shopkeepers. The fear has already led many families to flee from and those who have stayed on so far – like those in the Sector 69A slum – are now nervous.
(Manas Dasgupta)
