Nuh Violence: Haryana Government Asks Centre For More Paramilitary Forces

Gurugram:

The Haryana government on Wednesday sought four more companies of central forces as arson and vandalism continued in Gurugram and a Bajrang Dal activist died in hospital, taking the toll in the communal violence that began from adjoining Nuh to six.

Five godowns were set ablaze and two meat shops ransacked in Gurugram district late Tuesday night by mobs which officials say mostly disperse before the police arrive.

On Wednesday, two ‘jhuggis’ were torched and a tea shop vandalised. In another slum, some huts were ransacked.

Bajrang Dal’s Pradeep Sharma, who succumbed to his injuries in a Delhi hospital, was among the over 50 people injured Monday when mobs attacked a Vishva Hindu Parishad Yatra near Khedla Mod in Nuh.

Five people, including two home guards, have died after that attack in Muslim-dominated Nuh. In neighbouring Gurugram, a cleric was killed when a mob attacked a mosque the same night. Four people have been arrested so far for this.

The VHP and Bajrang Dal held protests in several parts of the national capital over the Nuh attack. A sit-in at the Haryana border caused a long jam, hampering movement between Delhi and Faridabad.

The Supreme Court also weighed in on Wednesday, ordering enhanced deployment of security personnel in sensitive areas and a crackdown on hate speech. But the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V Bhatti refused to stop the proposed rallies by the two Hindu groups in Delhi and the National Capital Region.

Gurugram district, which borders Delhi, has reported several cases of arson and vandalism after the Nuh clash on Monday. There have been no casualties after the mosque was targeted, officials say.

But Muslim migrant workers in some areas say they have received threats, and are considering going back home.

Like Rehmat Ali who lives in sector 70A.

“Some people came on motorcycles Tuesday night, threatening us that if we don’t leave they would set fire to our slum. Police are here since the night but my family is scared and we are leaving the city,” the autorickshaw driver from West Bengal said.

“We can come back when the situation improves,” he added.

Police have asked people to report such threats to them, and promised protection.

Apart from the state police, 20 companies of central forces are deployed in Haryana — 14 in Nuh, three in Palwal, two in Gurugram and one in Faridabad.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the government has sought four more companies from the Centre, and will also deploy a battalion of Haryana-based India Reserve Battalion.

He said 116 people have been arrested and 90 detained in the state so far. Forty-one cases were registered.

In Gurugram alone, 50 people have been arrested so far, the local police said. Among them is Dinesh Bharti, who heads Jai Bharat Mata Vahini and is booked for posting a video allegedly inciting communal violence.

The district police have identified 50 social media accounts carrying objectionable material.

Three of the godowns torched Tuesday night in Gurugram are located near Tikli village, and the other two in Palam Vihar and sector 70A. Some jhuggis in a slum near Nakhdola village were ransacked by a group of young men. Two meat shops were targeted in Badshahpur.

Mr Khattar and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala appeared to disagree on what caused the violence.

On Tuesday, Chautala said the organisers of the procession did not give a proper estimate of the expected turnout, and this possibly led to the Nuh incident. At his Wednesday press conference, the CM countered this.

The local authorities had held meetings with “both sides” the day before the procession, and were assured that the event would take place in a peaceful manner, he said.

Prohibitory orders remain in force in Nuh, Gurugram and other affected districts.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)