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Fans, coolers at mosque spark communal tension in Ballabgarh's Atali
Tension gripped Atali village once again on Friday after rumours that Muslims had installed fans and coolers in an under-construction mosque.
Tension gripped Atali village once again on Friday after rumours that Muslims had installed fans and coolers in an under-construction mosque.
As some Hindus organised a panchayat on the issue on Friday, senior civil and police officers rushed to the village and told the gathering that the court stay on construction at the mosque had not been violated.
The assurance by the administration brought the situation to normal in the village.
“There were reports that some Muslims had started installing fans inside the mosque on Thursday evening. Following this a panchayat was called that was attended by 150 Hindus,” said a villager said.
Among senior officials who rushed to the village were DCP Ballabgarh Bhupinder Singh and SDM Priyanka Soni.
“We told the people nothing of that sort had happened. Peace has returned to the village,” said Bhupinder Singh, DCP Ballabgarh.
Atali village witnessed communal violence on May 25 in which houses of some Muslims were torched. Houses and vehicles belonging to a minority community were torched during communal violence in the district.
Clashes broke out over a disputed piece of land, where one community was building a religious structure. Clashes left the minority community scared and the local administration had to accommodate them at the Ballabgarh city police station to extend police protection to them.
The site where the structure was being built has been disputed for a while. Members of the minority community started constructing the structure after they took the dispute to court and received a judgment in their favour.
