E-Paper
Gurugram Hindu groups call for boycott of Muslims
The villagers claimed that the men named in the mosque attack were innocent and issued an ultimatum for the names to be dropped.
Prefer HTon Google
Hundreds of people from villages in and around Gurugram gathered on Sunday in violation of prohibitory orders in Gurugram’s Sector 57 — where a mosque was attacked and a deputy imam murdered during the communal violence that spread across the region last week — and called for an economic and social boycott of Muslims.
At the gathering, a mahapanchayat, the villagers said the men named over the mosque attack were innocent and issued a 7-day an ultimatum for the names to be dropped, threatening to hold “chakka jam” roadblocks across the city if the administration did not do so.
Also Read | Haryana violence: Economic activity slows as Gurugram battles exodus of workers
Tigra village is close to the Anjuman Masjid in Sector 57 which was one of two mosques targeted in the city in the hours after clashes between a Hindu procession passing through a Muslim-majority village in Nuh.
Sube Singh Bohra, former sarpanch of Wazirabad in Sector 57, said, “We need to see the evidence against the men that have been arrested for the violence. The families are being harassed and targeted by those living near the mosque, but we will not let this happen anymore,” he said.
Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, a Bajrang Dal member, alleged that the cases registered in Nuh in connection with the violence are against unidentified people, but in Gurugram, the suspects have been named. He claimed that the people who have been arrested were not part of the mob.
In a more direct threat, Bhardwaj added: “There are hundreds of Muslim men working in Gurugram as carpenters, barbers, vegetable vendors, mechanics, and cab drivers, and we have always supported them, but now we will ensure they don’t get any support from anywhere as they are responsible for disrupting peace in the city. Muslims should not be allowed to love or work in the city. We appeal to the people of the city not to rent out apartments or slums to them.”
Also Read | Migrant workers flee Gurugram as cops assure communal tensions now abating
The district administration said it did not give permission for the gathering and had imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in and around Tigra, which prohibits more than four people gathering at a spot. Despite it, hundreds attended the event. No arrests were made till late on Sunday in connection with the event, police officials said, asking not to be named.
“No permission was sought for this mahapanchayat. I am in touch with police, relevant action will be taken for violation of section 144,” said deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav.
A senior police officer, declining to be named, said they received intelligence that Hindu outfits had plans to indulge in violence, and had mobilised people from across the state.
“We are taking legal opinion whether the speeches made at the mahapanchayat fall under the category of hate speech, and accordingly, we will take action,” the officer said.
Communal clashes erupted on July 31 in Nuh, around 50km from Gurugram, after mobs attacked a Hindu religious procession organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The ensuing violence barrelled into neighbouring districts and cities, including Gurugram, where the Anjuman mosque was burnt down and its cleric killed. Mobs also set fire to and vandalised dozens of establishments in at least four Gurugram neighbourhoods.
On Sunday, people who attended the mahapanchayat said the committee headed by Attar Singh of Mohammadpur will meet deputy commissioner Yadav and police commissioner Kala Ramachandran on Monday morning, demanding that the four men arrested for the murder of the Sector 57 cleric be released.
Brahm Yadav, a former Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) councillor, said landlords in the city should check the Aadhaar cards of their tenants before renting out their houses. “The violence that broke out in Nuh on July 31 was due to the Muslim community. They should not be given any house or room on rent in the area. In fact, our Valmiki people should be allowed to run meat shops in the district and we all should boycott the shops run by Muslims,” he said.
Responding to the calls for boycott, Nuh legislator and Congress leader Chaudhary Aftab Ahmed said: “Residents can’t survive without skilled labour such as carpenters, welders, barbers, and others. Muslim tenants also provide income to Hindu landlords.”
The mahapanchayat also called for the removal of the mosque from Sector 57. “Anjuman Masjid in Sector 57 has been surrounded by controversies in the past also. We don’t want it in the area anymore, and the authorities should remove it at the earliest, else the area might break into violence,” said Mohammadpur’s Singh.
The deputy commissioner said the panchayat members will meet him on Monday and they will try to resolve issue at the earliest. “I will try to meet members of both communities so that the issues can be discussed and resolved,” he said.
Police commissioner Ramachandran said she deployed over 2,000 policemen across the city, and had set up checkpoints to ensure that the mahapanchayat was held peacefully. Teams of rapid action force (RAF), Crime Investigation Department (CID), crime units, and teams of police stations were present at the panchayat site. Also, policemen in plain clothes were also present.
“Police teams were checking vehicles to ensure no one was carrying weapons or any sharp object. Till Sunday, we have registered 30 cases, arrested 89 people and arrests in preventive action has reached 73,” she said.A
