Gurgaon’s Sector 57 mosque was vandalised, set on fire and its deputy imam murdered by a mob amidst reports of tension prevailing in Haryana’s Mewat after blatant provocation by a Hindutvawaadi procession that reportedly caused the flare-up. Toll in Haryana violence rises to five, curfew imposed in Nuh and internet services suspended in Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar areas. Police and administration are holding meetings with prominent members of both communities to ensure peace, said Police.
Authorities on Tuesday, August 1 imposed a curfew in Haryana’s Nuh district where two home guards were killed and at least 15 others injured including policemen following violence that erupted over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) procession. Reports of arms distribution programmes by the VHP and Bajrang Dal since July 31 have been coming in. Among the injured, Hodal Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sajjan Singh was shot in the head and an inspector in the stomach.
Meanwhile unrelenting provocations by the VHP and Bajrang Dal continued in the first half of Tuesday.
Media sources also reported that the mosque was attacked at 12:30 am last night by a large armed mob which fired on the mosque and then set it on fire. The chief imam of the mosque was away to his village last night. But the naib-imam or deputy imam, who would lead prayers in his absence, was assaulted, stabbed 13 times with swords, etc. and his throat slit before he was killed. Sources at the hospital the two were taken to – W Pratiksha Hospital – confirmed to the media that one of the victims was brought dead, with multiple stab wounds in his chest.
Another person present in the premises was also badly beaten up and shot in the knee. He is presently in the ICU. The Sector 57 mosque is the only mosque on a government-allocated land in the planned urban developed area in Gurugram The Hindu had reported in 2021, it “caters to almost half of the city’s municipal area spread across south and east zones and a large section of the floating population commuting to the Millennium City daily for work”.
The attackers have been identified and security around shrines has been tightened, according to the DCP of Gurugram East. Meanwhile, the Haryana Government has sought 20 companies of the Rapid Action Force from the Centre for a week to maintain the law and order situation in Nuh district.
I am completely numb with what has happened in this so called Millennium City #Gurugram
Our Maulana Saad who has been brutally murdered has not just been killed by the mob who entered the #Masjid but all those who spread Hatred day & night. Each one of them is responsible for it
— Altaf Ahmad (@JoinAltaf) July 31, 2023
How did the violence begin?
Reports of two home guards being killed and at least 15 people, including several policemen, were injured on Monday as protesters in Haryana’s Nuh district tried to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) procession. Shots were fired, stones pelted and cars set on fire, officials said.There were also reports that Monu Manesar, a cow vigilante booked earlier for the murder of two Muslim men whose charred bodies were found in Bhiwani district in February, was supposed to join the procession. The vigilante, however, told PTI that he did not participate on the advice of the VHP, which feared that his presence would create tension.
The Union home ministry is dispatching 15 companies of central forces to Haryana as violence also erupted in Sohna in the neighbouring Gurgaon district, adjacent to Delhi.
According to the police, the VHP’s Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra was stopped by a group of young men near Nuh’s Khedla Mod and stones were pelted at the procession. Cars were then set ablaze. People in the procession also hurled stones back at the youths who had stopped them, reports said. Later, many took refuge in a nearby temple as police tried to evacuate them to safety. Incidentally, the yatra was flagged off from Gurgaon’s Civil Lines by BJP district president Gargi Kakkar. A police contingent was deployed with the procession.
According to some claims, the trigger for the clash was an objectionable video posted on social media by a Bajrang Dal activist in Ballabhgarh.
First two videos of are of
1. Faridabad based cow viglante Bittu Bajrangi instigating violence and challenging Police in a facebook video 2 days back.
2. 3 days old video of Monu Manesar appealing to his supporters to attend the procession (he wasn’t allowed to attend the… pic.twitter.com/d9SbSWsL28— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) July 31, 2023
As news of the clash in Muslim-dominated Nuh spread, protesters in Sohna pelted stones and set ablaze four vehicles and a shop belonging to people from that community. Protesters there blocked a road for hours.
About 2,500 men, women and children at a Shiva temple in Nuh were evacuated by the police, Haryana home minister Anil Vij said. The evacuees apparently included devotees and those who had taken shelter there as the two sides clashed.
Late at night, Nuh authorities said the situation was “under control”. Representatives from both communities held a meeting in which officials and local leaders too took part. Another meeting was slated for Tuesday morning, they said.
Afzal Ahmed, an MLA from Nuh, on Tuesday, alleged the incident was a planned act of violence, reported India Today.
“A planned act of violence has been carried out. In the past, there have been trips, but nothing like this ever happened,” Ahmed said. “Provocation was deliberately done by uploading videos on social media,” the MLA added.
Meanwhile, an alert was sounded in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district following violence in Nuh. Superintendent of Police, Bharatpur, Mridul Kachchawa told PTI that the vigil was intensified in the district and social media was being monitored.
All check posts in areas sharing the border with Haryana were being manned, he said.Educational institutions were closed on Tuesday in Gurugram, Faridabad and Palwal districts as a precautionary measure.
Tuesday morning, August 1, Bajrang Dal’s provocations
Even as police claimed that the tensions were returning to normal Hindutwa Watch reported provocations by Bajrang Dal. An 11 am video quotes these objectionable lines, “ Bhiwani, Haryana Bajrang Dal organized a rally where participants shouted slogans calling for violence against Muslims. “Jab Mulle kaate jaayenge, Ram Ram Chillaayenge (When ‘Mulle’—a derogatory word used for Muslims—would be chopped off, they would cry Ram Ram).”
Location: Bhiwani, Haryana
Bajrang Dal organized a rally where participants shouted slogans calling for violence against Muslims.
“Jab Mulle kaate jaayenge, Ram Ram Chillaayenge (When ‘Mulle’—a derogatory word used for Muslims—would be chopped off, they would cry Ram Ram).” pic.twitter.com/OmjOPK0NGL
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 1, 2023
An hour earlier, 10 a.m. reports of a Muslim driver, Ibrahim being beaten up were shared.
Location: Hodal, Phalwal, Haryana
A Muslim driver named Ibrahim was beaten and his vehicle damaged by the members of Bajrang Dal. pic.twitter.com/yLeXeTBhQ8
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 1, 2023
Yesterday, July 31, the provocations become clear. At 9 a.m. today this report comes in:
The Vishwa Parishad Parishad-Bajrang Dal procession to Mewat region that resulted in violence was led by notorious far-right leaders, including cow vigilantes. One group was led by Rahul Dhillon alias Rahul Boxer who runs a gang & owns heavy weaponry. Here is his testimony:
The Vishwa Parishad Parishad-Bajrang Dal procession to Mewat region that resulted in violence was led by notorious far-right leaders, including cow vigilantes.
One group was led by Rahul Dhillon alias Rahul Boxer who runs a gang & owns heavy weaponry. Here is his testimony: pic.twitter.com/vhiaSUuLbz
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 1, 2023
Between 8-9 a.m., Bittu Bajrangi, a senior Bajrang Dal leader in Haryana and a history sheeter, did a Facebook live before heading to Mewat, challenging Muslims living in region to face his gang.
Bittu Bajrangi, a senior Bajrang Dal leader in Haryana and a history sheeter, did a Facebook live before heading to Mewat, challenging Muslims living region to face his gang. pic.twitter.com/V9JtnZVIgJ
— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 1, 2023
Clearly the administration and police have their work cut out for them. The question is will they act against these self styled vigilantes who enjoy political impunity?
Related:
The Aesthetics of Violence and Ideology
Monu Manesar, 20 others named in Bhiwani Double Murder: Rajasthan
Stop Uttarakhand Mahapanchayat, could lead to targeted communal violence: Petitions urge CJI