Nuh violence toll rises to 6, protest rallies in Delhi

Large parts of Delhi were brought to a standstill during rush hour on Wednesday, as right-wing groups began their demonstrations around 9am

Remnants of communal violence that tore through Nuh and Gurugram echoed in Delhi on Wednesday as right-wing groups took out rallies and held protests at 23 spots in the city, even as simmering tensions on the fringes of the Capital boiled over in Kherki Daula village, where a shop owned by a Muslim man was set ablaze.

Workers remove debris and stone from a street in Gurugram.

The rallies and protests — which were held across the city, including the crucial Mathura Road and Vikas Marg, as well as parts of northeast Delhi — came hours after the Supreme Court allowed the events to go ahead but with the rider that no hate speech be made. But that condition was breached in at least one neighbourhood — south Delhi’s RK Puram — according to videos that emerged online.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) — one of the groups that organised the religious procession that was attacked in Nuh on Monday — in a statement on Wednesday evening said it will not solely “depend on the government for the safety of Hindus”, will “respond to the attacks” and that the “outcomes of that (self-defence) will not be our responsibility”.

Meanwhile, the toll from the violence climbed to six, as a Bajrang Dal worker, who was injured in Nuh on Monday succumbed to injuries on Wednesday.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, during a press briefing, reiterated that his government was working to identify the perpetrators of the communal clashes that have kept Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on edge for three days now.

The state’s home minister Anil Vij told HT that Monday’s violence in Nuh was orchestrated and that “such a conflagration cannot happen at several points simultaneously”.

Security forces and law enforcement agencies said teams were deployed across the affected districts – Nuh, Gurugram, Palwal and Faridabad – to keep a check on law and order, though the violence at Kherki Daula suggested that mobs continued to slip through the cracks. To be sure, Vij also said that the state will “probe slip-ups, if any”.

Internet bans imposed in Nuh and Manesar remained in place, said officials, adding that prohibitory orders were also in effect across Gurugram.

And yet, despite the increased protection and even as the Gurugram district administration insisted that normalcy had returned, the Millennium City’s streets remained largely deserted on Wednesday, as firms and corporations implored employees to work from home, students stayed away from schools and commercial establishments preferred to keep their shutters down.

Opposition leaders kept up their attack on the Haryana government and its police force, accusing it of “malice” and “administrative failure”.

The violence began on Monday, when Hindu and Muslim groups clashed during a Shobha Yatra by the Bajrang Dal and VHP in Nuh district, leaving four (including two Home Guards) dead.

The trigger for the violence, according to a police officer, were videos suggesting that Bajrang Dal member and cow vigilante Monu Manesar, wanted for murdering two Muslim men in Haryana’s Bhiwani this February, would also be a part of the procession. He did not, however, not turn up at the procession.

Tensions soon spread on Tuesday to other districts, including Gurugram, where a mosque was burnt and a cleric killed, and several shops pillaged.

And even as violence only singed the borders of the national capital, large parts of Delhi were brought to a standstill during rush hour on Wednesday, as right-wing groups began their demonstrations around 9am.

Carrying saffron flags and chanting religious slogans, the protesters marched through 23 neighbourhoods and arterial roads in Delhi and Noida.

Senior Bajrang Dal and VHP members demanded that Monday’s violence in Nuh be probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

“We carried out emergency protests in reaction to the deadly attack on members of our organisation in Nuh during our peaceful procession to Nalhar temple, which we carry out every year,” said Bajrang Dal’s Bharmpuri district coordinator Amit Singh.

To be sure, the Delhi Police did not grant permissions for any of Wednesday’s processions, none of which were held at the Capital’s only two designated protest sites — Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan.

Special commissioner of police (law and order zone-1) Dependra Pathak confirmed the demonstrations were taken out despite sans permissions.

However, Singh said, “The protests were planned on Tuesday evening. We did not get time to reach out to every police district to seek permission. Our central command informed the police headquarters about our planned demonstrations.”

The Supreme Court early on Wednesday constituted a two-judge bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, on an urgent application filed in a pending hate speech matter, which requested Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud for an immediate listing as these protest meetings were allegedly aimed at inciting hatred and strife between communities.

The top court directed authorities to ensure adequate security set-up across the planned protest sites.

“We hope and trust that the state authorities, including police agencies will ensure there is no hate speech against any community, no damage is caused to any property, and wherever required adequate police or paramilitary forces are deployed,” the bench said.

The court, which heard the request at 2pm, issued notice to the government and posted the case for Friday, also told the police to make video recording of the protests in sensitive areas.

However, protesting groups in at least one spot used hate speech in contravention of the top court’s orders

A video circulating on social media shows provocative speeches being delivered at demonstrations in RK Puram. A couple of speakers can be heard asking people to boycott people from other faiths (Muslims).

“We Hindus take a pledge that we shall not buy anything from them in our neighbourhoods... stop renting houses to them, else they will kidnap our women... Hindus are under attack,” one speaker can be heard saying in Hindi in the video.

HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.

The protests meant that several arterial roads, including Mathura Road, which connects South Delhi to Faridabad in Haryana, and Vikas Marg in east Delhi, were congested for around two hours. Mathura Road was the worst affected, with nearly 300 VHP and Bajrang Dal activists blocking the carriageway connecting Delhi and Faridabad at the Badarpur toll tax plaza during their protest, which began around 11.30am.

Kherki Daula, abutting National Highway-48 and surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and hotels, became the latest site of violence in Gurugram on Wednesday, as a scrap shop was set afire in the afternoon.

Fire department officials said that the incident took place around 2pm. Some old tyre shops and others selling scrap were burnt. The blaze was soon doused, the official said.

Varun Kumar Dahiya, assistant commissioner of police (crime), said they were scanning CCTV camera footage to ascertain the identity of the suspects involved in the incident.

In Nuh, residents said they were still struck by fear.

Murtaza khan a resident of Nuh’s Akera village said, “A lot of people have left the village and moved to their relatives homes in Uttar Pradesh fearing police arrest.”

CM Khattar on Wednesday said the Rajasthan Police were free to act against Monu Manesar, even as he reiterated that no one responsible for the violence will be spared.

“Those behind the Nuh violence and responsible for hatching this conspiracy will be identified and appropriate action will be taken against them,” Khattar said. He appealed to the people to help the government restore peace.

Still, unease coursed through shops, restaurants and corporations in Gurugram, home to offices and headquarters of several top global firms. Owners of businesses small and large, not to mention residents, said the violence had left them rattled.

Vineet Taing, president of Vatika Business Centre, which operates nine virtual offices in the city, said roughly half their clients stayed home on Wednesday.

“Around 50% percent of the people working in our centres stayed home. People coming from Delhi who travel by the Metro came in to work, but people who use private transit refrained, even if they live near the centre,” he said.

An employee with a major American financial services firm who asked not to be named, said they have around 8,000 people working in Cyber Hub, all of whom were allowed to work from home.

“Most people are scared, because such incidents have not happened in Gurugram in the past. Nuh is very close to the city and such violence has caused fear among us,” he said.

People running small establishments in Gurugram said they feared for their lives.

Mohammad Arif, who runs a meat shop in Sector 70, said, “Our life is in danger, and so is our business. We are not sure what will happen tomorrow. We may have to shut the shop and go back to our village.”