“We have to ensure that rule of law is maintained. This cannot be treated as an adversarial litigation. The law and order is basically a policing issue which must be taken care of”
– Justice Khanna, Supreme Court of India

On August 2, the Supreme Court urged the state authorities of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure that no violence or hate speeches take place in the protest marches being held by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal in various parts of Delhi-National Capital Region today in the wake of the communal violence in Nuh in Haryana.

The Supreme Court passed the aforementioned order during the special hearing of the Supreme Court. On the morning of August 2, two days after anti-Muslim violence started erupting in various part of Haryana, a result of “clashes” that took place during a religious procession of the Bajrang Dal and VHP, a list of events planned by the VHP in Delhi-NCR started doing rounds on social media. The said list provided 23 locations across Delhi-NCR where the events were planned on August 2 by the extremist and fringe organisations. The scheduled events were supposed to be held from morning till evening.

Advocate CU Singh, considering the urgent nature of the matter which could have life threatening consequences for the Muslim community, approached the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud to request for immediate intervention. The constitutional bench hearing on Article 370 was halted as CJI DY Chandrachud rostered an urgent hearing for a petition on the riots in Haryana’s Nuh district.

The VHP list of events is as follows:

Since there were strong apprehensions that the planned rallies might lead to riots, hate speeches and targeting of Muslims in Delhi, similar to what happened in districts of Haryana, a plea was moved by Shaheen Abdullah as an interlocutory application in the writ petition filed by him seeking directions to stop hate crimes.

In the said application, it was alleged that provocative statements were made in the earlier rallies held by these organisations in Bhiwani and Najafgarh in Haryana on August 1. The application had stated, “given the fact that the situation in Nuh and Gurgaon continues to be extremely tense and even the slightest provocation could result in serious loss of life and damage to property, rallies that are likely to fan communal fires and incite people to resort to violence, ought to not be permitted”, as provided by the LiveLaw.

The said urgent plea was then heard by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SV Bhatti in a special sitting at 2 pm. CJI DY Chandrachud had passed orders for the immediate listing of the application and the special bench was constituted. The said bench heard the urgent application filed to stop the VHP-Bajrang Dal rallies in Delhi-NCR.

Observations by the Supreme Court bench

While no stay was granted on the proposed rallies, the Court asked the Delhi Police, and the Governments of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana to ensure that no untoward incident takes place in the rallies. The Court also directed the authorities to video record the rallies in sensitive areas and preserve the footage.

Addressing Additional Solicitor General of India SV Raju, Justice Khanna provided the following: “There cannot be any quarrel on the proposition that hate speeches do vitiate the atmosphere. Mr. Raju, please ensure that the authorities must take adequate precautions to ensure that there is no violence and there are no hate speeches”,

The Supreme Court bench also directed the ASG to get in touch with state governments to prevent any hate speech or violence during marches held by the VHP and Bajrang Dal following the communal clashes in Nuh.

“Please get in touch with the authorities immediately to ensure that nothing untoward happens and at least there are no hate speeches or violence at all. And wherever you think are sensitive areas, take additional precautions in the form of additional police force. Also, deploy CCTV cameras to ensure everything is recorded”, Justice Khanna told the ASG, as reported by LiveLaw.

The bench also enquired Senior Advocate Chander Singh, who were appearing for the petitioner, whether any hate speeches have been made at the events that have been held already. To the same, Advocate Singh replied in an affirmative. He provided that “hate speeches were made in the rallies which have already been held in the Delhi-NCR today forenoon and more rallies are going to happen today in sensitive areas,” as provided by LiveLaw.

The bench then reminded the police regarding the orders passed by retired Justice KM Joseph and Justice BV Nagarathna, wherein the Bench had asked the law enforcement officers to take suo moto action to register FIR against hate speeches, without waiting for any formal complaint (orders issued in October 2002, April 2023).

Advocate Singh also informed the Court that a Mahapanchayat will be scheduled to take place in Haryana today evening at 4 pm amidst communal tensions, to which Justice Khanna replied, “Let it be, as long as there is no hate speech, no violence whether destruction of property or violence against individuals”, as provided by LiveLaw.

Order of the Court:

As provided by LiveLaw, the bench stated the following in its order:

“We hope and trust that the State Governments, including the police authorities, will ensure that there are no hate speeches against any community and there is no violence or damage to properties. Wherever required, adequate police force or paramilitary forces will be deployed. Further, authorities including the police will take use of the CCTV cameras where installed or make video recordings in all sensitive areas wherever required. The CCTV footage and the videos will be preserved”.

The bench also directed the Registry to communicate the order to the Standing Counsels of the Governments of NCT of Delhi, Haryana and UP.

Supreme Court order can be read here.

Related:

Nuh Haryana: Who cast the first stone?

Nuh Clashes planned and coordinated, more such violence likely before 2024 Polls: Satyapal Malik

Union MOS Home questions arms allowed in ‘religious’ procession at Nuh, Haryana: Rao Inderjit Singh

Communal violence erupts in Nuh, Mewat, five killed, provocations by VHP-Bajrang Dal continue

The post Supreme Court: Authorities must ensure that no violence or hate speeches takes place during VHP rally in Delhi-NCR appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Many news reports have been surfacing regarding the “clashes” that broke out in the Nuh district of Haryana while a procession of Vishwa Hindu Parishad- Bajrang Dal was being taken out.

This morning, Wednesday, August 2, a news article of Indian Express dated August 2, 2023, ‘Who gave weapons to the religious yatris at Nuh?’ that quotes Union Home MoS Rao Inderjit Singh, is pertinent. He has expressed strong views on why Arms were allowed to be carried by participants in the religious procession on Monday, July 31.  In the article Shri Rao Inderjit Singh said he approached Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Union Home Ministry to send Central forces to Nuh after realising that the police force was “insufficient”. “WHILE stating that there was provocation from both sides resulting in the violence in Nuh, Haryana, on Monday, Gurgaon MP and Union Minister of State (Independent charge) Rao Inderjit Singh said it was not right for participants in a religious yatra to be carrying swords and sticks.

“Kisne hathiyar diye unko is procession mein le jaane ke liye? Koi talwar leke jata hai procession mein? Lathi-dande leke jata hai (Who gave weapons to them for the procession? Who goes to a procession carrying swords, or sticks)? This is wrong. A provocation took place from this side too. I am not saying there was no provocation from the other side,” Singh said, speaking to The Indian Express.”

Build Up

As the investigation will be conducted by the Police into the events that led to the said incident, where two home guards were killed and many sustained injuries, it is important that the build-up to the violence is also looked into and the said incident is not looked as an isolated event. Planning of the said procession had been in the play since many days. A background of the said procession has been provided by us below.

Background and build-up

1. A video by Monu Manesar:

Prior to the procession on Monday, July 31, Monu Manesar (a previous offender whom the police has not been able to detain) had released a video and said he would participate in a religious procession. Through this three day-old video, Monu Manesar could be seen appealing to his supporters to attend the procession. In the said video, Monu Manesar assured his supporters that he will be present at the procession with his team. While eventually Monu Mansesar did not participate in the procession on the advice of the VHP, which feared that his presence would create tension, Monu Manesar’s name has been at the centre of communal clashes that broke out during the Vishva Hindu Parishad procession, even being connected to two ghastly lynchings in Mewat and nearby Rajasthan.

This remark by a social media user is relevant: “Even though I am sure that the police is aware of the gravity of the crimes associated with Monu Manesar, I am reiterating the same. Monu Manesar, who is the head of the cow vigilante wing of Bajrang Dal in Haryana, is an accused of kidnapping and killing two suspected cow smugglers called Junaid and Nasir in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur. The said incident had taken place in February this year. Even after this, Monu Manesar remains an active member of Bajrang Dal. As far as media reports indicate there is no move by the law and order authorities to act against the organisation that is fostering such criminals, hate mongers.” The video can be viewed here:

हेलो @PoliceRajasthan

ये ‘मोनू मानेसर’ नासिर-जुनैद हत्याकांड में आरोपी है ना? शायद ये आपको नहीं मिल रहा है? वीडियो में ये 31 जुलाई को मेवात आने कि बात कर रहा है…
cc: @BharatpurPolice @RajPoliceHelp pic.twitter.com/vJNDaVlyD5

— Ashraf Hussain (@AshrafFem) July 29, 2023

Also pertinent are the following news reports in understanding the build up.

Hindustan Times, August 2, 2023

Times of India, August 1, 2023

2. Facebook Live by Bittu Bajrangi:

Two days prior to the procession, 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. A Faridabad based cow vigilante, Bajrangi can be seen and heard instigating violence and challenging the Muslims living in region to face his gang. He can be heard saying “we are letting all of you beforehand that we will be coming so that you all do not complaint that we did not meet you.”

The gang, all of whom were donning the saffron scarf, can then be heard raising the religious slogan of “Jai Shree Ram”.

The video can be viewed here:

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

In another provocation two days before the violence broke out, a Video put out on the morning of August 2, is relevant and extremely worrying:

“Few hours before violence erupted in Haryana, Surendra Jain, General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was present at Nuh’s Nalhar Mahadev Mandir (destination of procession) where he delivered hate speech against Muslims in Mewat. We have obtained video of his speech, which can be viewed here:

EXCLUSIVE: Few hours before violence erupted in Haryana, Surendra Jain, General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad was present at Nuh’s Nalhar Mahadev Mandir (destination of procession) where he delivered hate speech against Muslims in Mewat.

We have obtained video of his speech pic.twitter.com/ymY3nfKZ9h

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 2, 2023

Procession by Vishwa Hindu Parishad- Bajrang Dal and provocations

As per media reports, the said procession ‘Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra’ was taken out by the VHP and Bajrang Dal on Monday, July 31. The yatra was flagged off from Gurugram’s Civil Lines by BJP district president Gargi Kakkar.

It is essential to note that the said 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. Even in his video with a local reporter after violence started, Rahul Boxer can be heard makes calls for unification against the “1000s that are out there”.

The video can be viewed here:

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

Violence at Nuh:

Tension was already brewing in the region after Bajrang Dal member Monu Mansar had released the video, as people were provoked by (unconfirmed) news strengthened by his own video, that he, Manesar was going to be a part of the procession. In addition to this, reports have also claimed that Bittu Bajrangi’s live video from Ballabhgarh was also a trigger for the clash As the procession vehicles reached Nuh Chowk, a handful of teenagers pelted stones on the vehicles. What ensued was chaos and unprecedented violence. Cars were then set ablaze.

People in the procession also hurled stones back at the youths who had stopped them, reports said. A religious “clash” broke out. Some local media reports claimed that both the sides raised religious slogans flaring communal tensions leading to the clash with the police completely outnumbered by the mob. Later, many took refuge in a nearby temple as police tried to evacuate them to safety.

Videos from the site of “clash”:

There are videos present on social media where a reporter of Aaj Tak was being threatened by Bajrang Dal members to not take any videos. In the videos, the members can be seen donning a saffron scarf, carrying guns, running and pelting stones. The reporter was also asked by one of the members with a gun if he is a Hindu or not. This video was from Mewat region of Haryana.

The video can be viewed here:

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

In another video of Aaj Tak, a police van can also be seen at the same road where the big Bajrang Dal mob can be seen walking with guns and stones. Exactly in front of the police, one person can also be seen throwing a stone at a house. Sounds of firing can also be heard in the background, along with the slogan of “Jai Shree Ram”.

The video can be viewed here:

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

Photos of swords in saffron in the cars of the procession are also available on social media.

The post can be viewed here:

हरियाणा के नूह में बजरंग दल, VHP की धार्मिक शोभायात्रा के दौरान बवाल,इस यात्रा में जुनैद,नासिर,वारिस हत्याकांड के आरोपी मोनू मानेसर के शामिल होने से नाराज़ थे स्थानीय निवासी,शोभायात्रा में शामिल युवकों के हाथों व कार में देखे जा सकते है अवैध हथियार व तलवार,स्थानीय निवासी को… pic.twitter.com/kc9KnqOPN9

— Zakir Ali Tyagi (@ZakirAliTyagi) July 31, 2023

Reportedly, two home guards were also killed and at least 15 others were injured including policemen following violence that engulfed at Haryana’s Nuh.

Deleterious Impact

As reports of violence started surfacing from Nuh, anti-Muslim hate and violence started spreading to other districts and parts of Haryana. Muslims, places of worship, and houses were then targeted by Hinduwaadi mobs. Even as curfew was imposed in Nuh area of Haryana, and internet services suspended in Sohna, Pataudi and Manesar areas, violence against Muslims have taken a malicious turn.

Mosque vandalised, deputy imam killed

On August 1, a mosque in Gurgaon’s Sector 57 was vandalised and set on fire. 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.  The deputy imam was just 19 years old. 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.

Notably, the Sector 57 mosque was the only mosque on a government-allocated land in the planned urban developed area in Gurugram

The video can be viewed here:

Rioters burnt the Masjid in Gurugram Sector-57, The murder of “Maulana Saad” of the Masjid.

So far four deaths have occurred in this violence, Today schools & colleges are closed in #Gurugram and #Mewat areas, internet is down, Curfew was imposed in #Nuh district for two days. pic.twitter.com/Os9x8sXVv5

— Hate Detector (@HateDetectors) August 1, 2023

Hate speech:

Even as police claimed that the tensions were returning to normal in Haryana, videos showing members of Bajrang Dal taking out rallies, raising offensive and genocidal slogans and provoking people have been surfacing.

A video from Bhiwani, Haryana showed that the Bajrang Dal organized a rally where participants shouted slogans, used derogatory words and called for violence against Muslims. “Jab Mulle kaate jaayenge, Ram Ram Chillaayenge (When Muslims would be chopped off, they would cry Ram Ram).” Notably, police officers can also be seen standing behind and beside the mob. They are neither stopping the mob from raising such inciteful slogans, nor taking any action.

The video can be viewed here:

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

Another video from Bahadurgarh, Haryana shows a saffron donning mob of Bajrang Dal members taking out a rally and shouting hateful, provocative and violence invoking slogans: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, goli maro salon ko (shoot the traitors of our country).” A police van can be seen crossing the mob, without taking any action. A traffic police cop can also be seen walking alongside the mob.

The video can be viewed here:

Location: Bahadurgarh, Haryana

Bajrang Dal members took out a rally shouting hateful slogans: “Desh ke gaddaron ko, Goli maro salon ko (shoot the traitors of our country).” pic.twitter.com/F2v07EsgL5

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) August 1, 2023

A man holding a sickle can be seen raising a genocidal call against Muslims. In the said video, he asks Hindus from the surrounding area of Mewat to unify and take action against these “jihadis”.

The video can be viewed here:

हरियाणा को मणिपुर बनाने की तैयारी ?
जाट और गुर्जर समाज अपने छोरो को इन आतंकियों से बचाए
#Mewatviolence #JaipurExpressTerrorAttack
#NeverVoteBJP #Islamophobia_in_india#Haryana #MewatSOS #अमन_चोपड़ा #मोनू_मानेसर #चेतनकुमार_को_फांसी_दो #BajrangDal #Mewat #Delhis_Azadpur_Mandi pic.twitter.com/MD7FuuokKQ

— प्रतिभा INDIA (@Deshpremiindia) August 1, 2023

Selective targeting:

Gurgaon- According to a report by Meer Faisal, a journalist, at some places in Haryana’s Gurgaon, Hindutva goons were asking labourers sleeping in shops whether they are Mewatis or Muslims. After asking, they are targeting them.

Khatela, Palwal- Reportedly, Khubi Khan had a tire shop in Khatela village, Palwal, which was set on fire by a Hindu mob around midnight. It is being alleged that cops were present at the site when the mob set the shop on fire.

The video can be viewed here:

#Palwal, Haryana Update.

Khubi Khan had a tire shop in Khatela village, Palwal. After midnight, the Hindu mob set it on fire. The cops have been accused of being present when the mob set the shop on fire. pic.twitter.com/GqRXfOEvNH

— Meer Faisal (@meerfaisal01) July 31, 2023

Hodal, Phalwal- A Muslim driver named Ibrahim was beaten up by sticks and his vehicle was damaged by the members of Bajrang Dal.

The video can be viewed here:

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

Members of the Bajrang Dal have been maliciously whipping up emotions among the people of Haryana against the Muslim minorities in the state. Before this escalates further and the death toll rises, having reach five already, this needs immediate attention as this behaviour cannot be tolerated by any means, even under the law. Many more videos are surfacing where individuals donning saffron scarfs can be seen using guns with a police officer standing beside them.

Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in) has complained both to the Director General of Police (DGP), Haryana and the National Commission of Minorities (NCM) on this escalation of violence. These attacks have started to play into the deep communal divide the authorities are ignoring, or complying with, and we are now on the verge of violence, targeted violence and social disharmony becoming the norm in our society. India as a democracy is committed to an ideology of toleration but such attacks and the increasing frequency of such attacks is dangerous and needs immediate action.

These incidents have gone beyond isolated instances hate speech and are manifesting into violent acts against minorities who are not even perceived as victims anymore. Public order and security of the state is paramount but with these incidents that go unchecked with punishment or accountability, is Haryana and its environs heading towards lawlessness?

Related:

Communal violence erupts in Nuh, Mewat, five killed, provocations by VHP-Bajrang Dal continue

Nuh Clashes planned and coordinated, more such violence likely before 2024 Polls: Satyapal Malik

Union MOS Home questions arms allowed in ‘religious’ procession at Nuh, Haryana: Rao Inderjit Singh

The post Nuh Haryana: Who cast the first stone? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

“Kisne hathiyar diye unko is procession mein le jaane ke liye? Koi talwar leke jata hai procession mein? Lathi-dande leke jata hai (Who gave weapons to them for the procession? Who goes to a procession carrying swords, or sticks)? This is wrong. A provocation took place from this side too. I am not saying there was no provocation from the other side,” Singh said, speaking to the newspaper. He also attributed a small altercation between young children, “who started pelting stones at each other”, as “the spark” that lit the fire.

Singh said he approached Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the Union Home Ministry to send Central forces to Nuh after realising that the police force was “insufficient”.

Condemning hate on social media, the Union minister added that social media posts are leading to “negative thinking” among people. “I have asked the police to probe who uploaded such videos. Someone said there were videos saying, ‘We are coming for this religious function, your daamad (son-in-law) is coming. If you can stop, stop it’. If such irresponsible videos are uploaded, it causes a negative impact.”

According to Singh, the area, which is Muslim-dominated, had not seen such an incident in “the past 75 years after Partition”. “Why did it happen now? I believe social media is responsible.”

Singh, the Union minister also deeply regretted killings in the past in the area, such as of Nasir and Junaid in 2022 (belonging to Rajasthan, they were killed by alleged cow vigilantes and their bodies dumped in Bhiwani), leaving “a persecution complex” in the minds of the minority community.

Formerly with the Congress leader, Singh has been a minister of state in the Modi government for the past nine years. His supporters are demanding that he be anointed BJP’s chief ministerial r candidate for 2024, arguing that the party never gave him his due despite his contributions to its success. In October 2021, Singh was also dropped from the BJP’s National Executive.

Related:

Communal violence erupts in Nuh, Mewat, five killed, provocations by VHP-Bajrang Dal continue

Communal Tensions Surge as Radical Hindu Groups Distribute Weapons and Deliver Divisive Speeches

The post Union MOS Home questions arms allowed in ‘religious’ procession at Nuh, Haryana: Rao Inderjit Singh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

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

Hindu Mahasabha Members Arrested for Allegedly Slaughtering Cow to Incite Communal Violence in Agra During Ram Navami Parade

The post Communal violence erupts in Nuh, Mewat, five killed, provocations by VHP-Bajrang Dal continue appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Menaka Rao

In the morning of March 10, the government school teachers of Ghata village in Haryana’s Mewat district went from door to door to urge parents to send their children to school. They came back with just 20 children, most of whom were girls.“When we go to their houses, children run out of the house and up the hill in barely two minutes,” said Zakir Hussain, the government school principal, pointing to the Aravalli ranges behind the village.

Officially, 185 children are registered in the primary grades of the school and 60 children in the middle grades. But ever since rumours began to circulate in the local Muslim Meo community in early March that schoolchildren were being administered injections that would make them sterile, parents had stopped sending them to school. Attendance had fallen to as low as 5%, claimed officials.

Government officials have clarified no injections are being administered to children.

The first rumour was triggered by a truncated video taken from the Hindi news channel ABP News. The channel runs a programme called “Viral Sach”, which deconstructs and disproves rumours. The programme’s edition, which ran on February 11, focused on rumours in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that school children were being injected with a substance that causes sterility.

In February, the Union health ministry had launched a campaign to administer the measles-rubella vaccine to children between the ages of nine months and 15 years. The campaign started with the states of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karnataka, Goa, and Lakshadweep. The campaign was yet to reach Haryana.

The first half of the ABP News programme summarised the rumours that had spread in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while the second half featured experts, including doctors, debunking them. Only the first half of the programme circulated on WhatsApp in Mewat.

Soon, another video that had been shot locally surfaced. On March 4, an eight-year-old child from Meoli village was brought to Mewat’s government medical college with symptoms of breathlessness. The child complained that he was injected on his scrotum while he was playing in the jungle by an unknown person.

Dr Sansar Chand, the director of the college said that the child was kept under observation for a day and discharged. “He was breathing fast. His systems were perfectly all right,” said Chand. “We suspect the child had an emotional outburst in public. Perhaps it was just hyperventilation.”

But it wasn’t just viral videos – some people who had relatives working in South India, particularly Bengaluru and Chennai, heard about the rumours on phone.

In Autha village, Rashida Khatoon said her son, Rehan, who works as an air conditioning mechanic in Bengaluru, told her about the rumours which he had read about online. Since then, Khatoon stopped sending her seven grandchildren to school.

Harooni Khatoon’s son Khalid called her from Chennai and told her not send his children to school. “Duniya keh rahi hai,” said Harooni, a resident of Alipore Tigra. The whole world is talking about it, not just us.
 

Looking for reason

Outside the school at Ghata village government health official Dr BS Singhal tried to reason with some men.

Singhal started by saying, “On the road, I saw an animal whose face was that of a lion and the body was that of a pig,” said Singhal. “Would you believe me if I said that?”

He waited for a moment people to react. Some of the men said “No” but did not seem to understand the point of this story. Singhal then added, “Rumours are always false. Please do not believe them.”

This hypothetical exercise to separate truth from rumours was repeated in the next school at Alipore Thirda village.

“There is no injection made in the world which can make a person sterile in just one shot,” he said.

Still, residents of the area were not convinced of and proceeded to ask him about whether their children might die from these injections.

“Ailaan nahi kiya, pakki nahi hui, tasalli nahi hui,” said Mohammed Hanif, a resident of Alipore Tigra. Hanif was adamant that only a declaration by the maulvi over the community loudspeaker stating would convince him that the rumours were false.

In three villages that Scroll.in visited, government officials had not held any public meetings regarding this issue till last week. Singhal visited two villages on Friday. Only teachers, Accredited Health Social Workers or ASHAs and other local workers were talking to people in the villages about the rumours. But without answers to worried parents’ questions about children falling sick or dying, they could do little to keep children in school. For instance, they did not know enough about what happened to the child from Meoli village to counter the claim.

But, most children went back to school during the week after Holi to write their exams, said Dinesh Shastri of the district education department. The principals of two schools confirmed the situation had improved but added that some children were still staying away.

Mehboob Khan, father of two girls who were in school that day, lingered outside the school gate just in case. “I am guarding my children,” he said.
 

Other health programmes suffer

Lack of school attendance had already caused some damage in early March. “For two weeks we could not run any government programme,” said Dr SK Kaushik of the district health department.

Every Monday, school children are given doses of iron and folic acid supplements in the form of tablets. Twice a year, children are given a dose of Albendazole as part of the deworming programme. The first dose of 2017 was due in March.
 

But data collected by the district health department indicate that over the first two weeks of March, only a small fraction of all school-going children between the ages of 10 and 19 received the dose. Of the 1.35 lakh children in this age group, only 14,000 had taken the iron and folic acid supplement, 6,500 had taken the vitamin A syrup, and 5,000 had taken the deworming tablet, said Dr SK Kaushik.

Said Dr Krishan Kumar, senior medical officer at the community health centre of Firozpur Zhirka block: “We can only give the children these supplements if they turn up in school.”

This is the first part in a series on the spread of rumours in Haryana’s Mewat district.

This reporting project has been made possible partly by funding from New Venture Fund for Communications.

This article was first published on Scroll.in
 

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मेवात। हरियाणा की बीजेपी शासित खट्टर सरकार ने हांड कंपा देने वाली सर्दी में सैकड़ों मुस्लिम परिवारों के घर तोड़कर उन्हे बेघर कर दिया है। मामला हरियाणा के मेवात जिले का है। जहां प्रशासन ने सीआरपीएफ कैंप के लिए टूंडलाका गांव में 80 घरों को तोड़ दिया।
 
घरों को तोड़े जाने की वजह से सभी मुस्लिम परिवार खुले आसमान के नीचे रहने को मजबूर हैं। हांड कंपा देने वाली सर्दी को देखते हुए कुछ परिवारों ने टेंट और तंबू लगा लिए हैं लेकिन कुछ परिवारों को यह भी नसीब नहीं है।
 
पीड़ित लोगों का कहना हैं कि वह इस जमीन पर पिछले 40 वर्षों से रहते आएं हैं। प्रशासन ने उन्हें मकानों को तोड़े जाने से पहले सूचित भी नहीं किया जिससे वह अपने सामान और रहने की दूसरी व्यवस्था भी नहीं कर पाए। पीड़ितों ने बताया कि इस ठंडी के आलम वह खेतों में खुले आसमान के नीचे रह रहे हैं, छोटे-छोटे बच्चे रातभर ठंड से कांपते हैं। सर्दी की हर रात उनपर किसी आपदा से कम नहीं है।

मेवात विकास सभा के अध्यक्ष उमर मोहम्मद ने बताया कि प्रशासन ने गलत तरीके से करीब 40 वर्षों से बने हुए मकानों को तोडा है। उन्होंने कहा कि चकबंदी के दौरान जो रक्बा बचा था वह किसानों कि पट्टी, शामलात और जुमला मालकान का है। मगर ग्राम पंचायत ने 1965 में इस जमीन का इंतकाल गलत तरीके से अपने नाम करा लिया था। जिसके बाद यह मामला कोर्ट गया और अब भी यह मामला जिला न्यायलय के समक्ष विचाराधीन है।
 
आपको बता दें कि मेवात जिले में सीआरपीएफ कैंप प्रस्तावित है। इसके लिए गांव की जमीन ली जा रही है। इस क्रम में प्रशासन ने 80 मुस्लिम परिवारों के घरों को ढहा दिया है। इस जमीन पर ये परिवार पिछले 40 सालों से रह रहे थे। वही प्रशासन का कहना है कि ये जमीन ग्राम समाज की है जबकि लोगों का कहना है कि ये जमीन उनकी है जिसको धोखे से ग्राम समाज की बना दिया गया।

Courtesy: Nationaldastak
 

The post भाजपा सरकार ने किया सैकड़ों मुस्लिम परिवारों को बेघर appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Because of government restrictions, community radio stations often find themselves unable to voice the community's major concerns. Radio Mewat was recently confronted with such a dilemma when 'gau rakshaks' raped two women and killed two of their older relatives. Also, when soon thereafter came the clampdown on biryani selling on the streets, ostensibly to check sale of prohibited cow meat.

Warisa Bano, radio reporter. Photo: Mubarik Khan

Warisa Bano had a dream. Unlike other young women in Mewat, she wanted to be a radio jockey. She grew up listening to BBC’s Hindi service, the only news channel her grandfather tuned in to every day. She was amazed at how a box could beam out voices from afar. She wanted to be part of this magic. Her family refused to allow her to enrol in college as they feared that an educated girl would not find a groom. Warisa had a serious problem at hand. 

Mewat, a district in India's northern state of Haryana, is not an easy place for women to have ambitions. Located 70 kilometres from India’s capital Delhi and predominantly Muslim, the region has low literacy rates and women are generally married off early. It’s not unusual for many to have 8-10 children. Ever since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Delhi, Mewat’s problems have been aggravated. Its illiteracy, unemployment and lifestyle are all being interpreted through the prism of religion.

Warisa’s is just one of many stories that speak of the transformative power of radio, in a community where watching television is considered against the tenets of Islam, and women are not allowed to go out; there are no restaurants or movie halls, malls or gardens. Even the mosques are not open to women who are confined to the house.

Warisa, then aged 19, found an ally in her grandfather who, on her insistence, accompanied her to the only community radio station in the vicinity, Radio Mewat, 23km away from her home. It was the initiative of an ngo, SMART (Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation), which was set up in 2000. When the Government of India revised its policy guidelines in 2007 to allow not-for-profit organisations a licence to run community radio stations, which were earlier restricted to educational institutions only, SMART grabbed this opportunity. Radio Mewat was launched in September 2010. When Warisa turned up, Radio Mewat invited her to be the guest on their programme ‘Aaj Ka Mehmaan’ (Today’s Guest). Warisa was on air.

Her keenness to join the radio station resulted in a long period of negotiations with her family. They conceded but with certain conditions – Warisa had to complete all the household chores before she left home. That meant that she had to get up every day at 4 am – summer or winter – to complete her work. She would then leave home at 6:45 am, take different modes of transport to cover the distance to reach the station at 8 am. She was never late. Within no time at all she became a known voice, and became what can only be called a celebrity in her community. Warisa began receiving invitations to be the Guest of Honour at local school functions. She was invited to hoist the national flag on Independence Day in a local girl’s school, and also make the keynote address at the opening of the first women’s police station in the district, an honour by any standard but even more remarkable given Warisa's journey. She was featured on Doordarshan, the national television channel and other local channels. In less than a year Warisa was transformed into a confident, mature woman with a voice that was known everywhere.
 

Warisa speaking on national television. Photo: Mubarik Khan.

After 4 years of working at Radio Mewat, Warisa had a sizeable following. She decided to put her stardom to use and contested elections for local self-government – the panchayat. She lost by a whisker. She then decided to pursue a career in medicine and is now working as a lab assistant at a local medical college. She is now 23, and is still unmarried.

Warisa’s is just one of many stories that speak of the transformative power of radio, in a community where watching television is considered against the tenets of Islam, and women are not allowed to go out; there are no restaurants or movie halls, malls or gardens. Even the mosques are not open to women who are confined to the house. In these circumstances, radio has become their only companion. Until a few years back the women were not even allowed a mobile phone but at least that has changed and has now afforded them an opportunity to connect to radio. Through this device, they listen, and call into the community radio station.

From Radio Mewat they get information about local government schemes, consumer rights, nutrition, financial inclusion – a programme to help people learn about financial institutions including banks, and create an understanding of the financial services that can be accessed. Through this programme SMART helped open over 25,000 savings accounts, helped farmers access loans and insure their crops and helped landless labour borrow money to start small businesses), learn English, maths and the history of Mewat. For women, particularly the radio is a boon. It has served not only as a platform for expression but also as a one-stop shop for solutions.

In 2013, when Mewat had a sensitive district police chief, Radio Mewat did a programme with the police department where the radio doubled up as a complaint registering centre. The majority of complaints came from women who do not feel safe going to a police station. Through this programme hundreds of issues were addressed including the presence of an illicit liquor distillery, in a predominantly Hinduvillage, that used to serve as a hangout for all the men. The complaint which was sent to the radio station was taken up by the police and the distillery was raided and shut down. This helped in building the credibility of both the community station and the police. Radio Mewat won two national awards for its community engagement and innovative programmes. 
 

Warisa, reporting from slums near Delhi. Photo: Mubarik Khan.

As a result of a government ban on news and current affairs on community radio stations and private FM stations, the radio has been walking a thin line trying to separate development news from current affairs. Despite all the constraints, Radio Mewat has helped bring in more transparency and accountability in this district. Consequently, it has also caused disquiet in the corrupt administration. Radio Mewat has been blamed for making the people aware of their rights, and encouraging them to speak up, and demand their rights.

Not being allowed to broadcast news undermines a key objective of community radio stations: giving a voice to people living at the margin. Recently, the radio station was confronted with a big dilemma when alleged cow protectors raped two women and killed two of their older relatives. Their crime was consumption of beef, an inexpensive and a high protein food for the less privileged, in an area where it is proscribed by the state of Haryana’s BJP government. This incident was followed by a clampdown on biryani (a rice dish layered with meat) to prevent local people from using cow meat. By any reckoning this was a national issue being played out in the station’s backyard, but the radio team was forced by law to not report either the incident or provide a forum for the local people to express their grievances. Besides, there was a threat from district officials that if Radio Mewat gave legitimacy to the protesters – it would be shut down. 

These are difficult times for community radio stations like Radio Mewat. On the one hand the support from the government in terms of advertisements or sponsored programmes (the only way to get some financial assistance) has been stopped and on the other hand the community feels the radio is no longer a voice of the community, as it is not airing their concerns. For a community radio, which is supposed to be community owned – a radio by the people, for the people and of the people – the big question is: does one get into discussing the growing turmoil in the community or just focus on non-controversial issues like imparting education, propagating government schemes or being agony aunt to the women of Mewat? As the content of the radio programmes is constantly monitored by the central government, it is not easy to engage in discussions that the regulators could find subversive which, in turn, could lead to the lockdown of these small community run stations.

When this issue was discussed with the community, the mood was firm. Under no circumstances did they want their radio to be shut down. They were perhaps cognisant, too, of the transformative role that radio played in their lives and how it could also help in discovering the next Warisa from a remote village of this abysmally poor area when she hears the voice on her FM radio “As-Salaam–Alaikum, Namaste, this is Radio Mewat”! 

(Archana Kapoor is a publisher, author and a community media activist. She is an independent filmmaker and Founder of Seeking Modern Applications for Real Transformation (SMART) – a non-governmental organisation which works with marginalized communities in India.)

This story was first published on openDemocracy India.
 

The post “As-Salaam-Alaikum, Namaste, this is Radio Mewat!” Sorry, No ‘News’, No ‘Politics’ appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: News18

The dread of Muslim residents mounted after raiding teams of the state police, supported by non-State cow vigilantes, collected samples of biryani sold by locals on the highways to Alwar and Gurgaon to test whether these contained cow meat. This was about a week before the Eid. No official reports were made public about the findings of the tests, but cow vigilante leaders claimed that five of the seven samples tested ‘positive’ for cow meat.

Memories are also fresh among Muslims of the lynching of Mohammed Ikhlaq in Dadri less than a year ago, based on the rumour that he had killed a cow and eaten its meat during Eid. People in Mewat feared that mobs could attack any of them, claiming that the meat that they were eating and distributing was cow meat, and they could be killed in the way Ikhlaq was. In fact, ‘Ikhlaq’ had become a verb in people’s conversations: ‘people may Ikhlaq us’, they said, meaning that they could be lynched.

It has become risky to transport cows. If a truck is found to carry cows, then gau rakshaks stop the truck, thrash the driver, often vandalise or burn the vehicle, and then drag the driver, if still alive, to the police.

These rakshaks derive a great sense of social power from this role. But even if the transported animals are not cows — buffaloes, or even camels — the transporters remain equally vulnerable to attack. Instead of gau rakshaks, they pose to be animal rights activists, often claiming allegiance to Union minister and leading animal rights activist Maneka Gandhi. And they are still attacked even though they are not transporting cows.

Apart from the long shadows that the Haryana police biryani raids cast on Eid festivities, the even more permanent damage they inflicted was on the livelihoods of thousands of poor Muslims. Along highways, young men would sell on portable wooden carts steaming biryani to truck-drivers and workers. They would mainly use buffalo meat, which was economical and conformed to local tastes. A plate would sell for Rs 15 to 20. It offered a source of inexpensive and sanitary nutrition, and had become a major part of the contemporary culture of the region.

But even more than this, the biryani stalls were a source of decent livelihood to approximately 15,000 people. It is estimated that around 3,000 such stalls operated across the district. Each offered employment to at least five people, for a range of tasks from the rearing and sale of the meat and rice, collecting firewood, cooking that began typically before dawn inside thousands of Mewat homes, transportation and sale.

However, after the raids by the police, almost all of these have shut down. In an impoverished district with low literacy, there were few jobs for residents who owned little land. Many worked in stone quarries but these were recently shut down. Tens of thousands drove trucks, but more than 50,000 of their driving licences were recently cancelled when they submitted these for renewal. On the back of so much livelihood distress, the abrupt closure of the biryani trade in terror of official action has resulted in suffering and anger.

Cow slaughter is prohibited in Haryana since the mid-1950s under the Punjab Prohibition of Cow Slaughter Act (1955), but lawyer Ramzan Chaudhary tells me that this statute was lightly enforced. This changed with the election of a BJP government in Haryana in 2014. The socially conservative chief minister led the passage of a far more stringent Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gau Samvardhan Act, 2015. This first expanded the prohibition to include slaughter of any ‘gau vanshaj’ — including bulls, oxen, heifers and calves, even when these animals are disabled, diseased or barren. It made possession even of tinned and imported beef a crime. It prescribed high penalties including rigorous imprisonment of three to 10 years. The earlier law made no provision for testing or sampling meat samples, but this statute provided for establishing laboratories for such testing. The Haryana government constituted a police — Cow Protection Task Force — led by a DIG Bharti Arora, who went on record about her missionary zeal to protect cows.

It was policepersons of this task force who conducted the Mewat biryani raids, sending samples to the Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar. The Tribune reports that all that the forensic investigation could conclude was that the meat was ‘cattle meat’, not whether or not it was cow meat. It stated that the laboratories are not equipped to conduct any such tests that would stand legal scrutiny in a court of law.

All of this makes the official motive for the police raids on the biryani stalls even more troubling. Lacking the expertise and equipment to actually test whether the meat samples were of cows or buffaloes, what the raids timed a week before the Eid festival accomplished was only to create a climate of dread that crushed both the festival and one major livelihood source of thousands of poor persons. The greater tragedy is that this seems to have been precisely what the government, openly hostile to a segment of its citizens based on their religious identity, actually wanted to accomplish.

Harsh Mander is the author of Looking Away: Inequality, Prejudice and Indifference in New India.

(This article was first published on Hindustan Times. It has been republished with the permission of the author.)

The post The Mewat Biryani raids have permanently damaged livelihoods of poor Muslims appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This Video was shot on September 12, 2016, the day before Bakri Eid

Published on 15 Sep 2016. Courtesy: Newsclick

The Mewat incident, involving two deaths and rape of two women by the cow vigilantes has spread fear across the district since the middle of August 2016 The Bar Association of Nuh stands firm in its position of defending the victims and exposing the complicit attitude of the police, allegedly intent on burying the evidence. The girls were raped in an act of revenge for their allegedly been consumers of beef. This happened on the night of August 24-25, 2016.

Thereafter, in the run up to Eid ul Azha (Bakri Eid) the state government run by the supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conducted a series of raids all on vendors of food, all Muslims, acting on allegations that they were selling beef. The Haryana Government passed a controversial 'Cow Protection' Law that has become the source of legitimising these attacks on minorities and Dalits.

Sabrangindia has been highlighting this issue consistently (See references). On the eve of Eid, as the commercial television media raised the state and BJP fueled hysteria of whether or not the street food vendors sold beef,  TV channels in Haryana have reported news quoting Dr Ravindra Sharma, Director of Research of Lala Lajpat Rai University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Hisar that seven meat samples received in the University from various places of Haryana have been tested to be positive for beef with Vice Chancellor authenticating the report.

At that time we had raised these questions:

1.   Which laboratory in the university has carried out the said tests? 

2.   Whether the said laboratory has been accredited by accreditation body or recognized by the state government as provided in Section 12 (1) of The Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Act 2015. It is a matter of fact that no laboratory in the said university has any accreditation or recognition to carry out such tests

3.    Whether the report given by the said laboratory is valid for vetro-legal purposes? Is it not true that the university officials write on the test report page that the report is not valid for vetro-legal purpose

4.    In which department of the university the laboratory (where the said test has been reported to be carried out) is located? Whether the head of that department has been informed about the findings of the laboratory? The answer is no.

5.   What procedure was followed while taking of samples and their labeling? As a matter of fact, no authority in the university has been designated to ensure that the sampling, labeling of samples is done in a proper manner in matters involving species differentiation

6.    Whether the permission of the state government was taken before giving press statements as those appearing in news channels yesterday and newspapers today? The answer is no. 

7.    Who officer of the university will be responsible for genuineness of the results in the event of any untoward event occurring after publishing of news item?

References:
 
1. Fear Stalks Mewat as Bakri Eid Approaches

2. Mewat Gang-Rape Victim Breaks Down While Narrating Horrific Incident

3. Beef Hysteria Fueled in Haryana, Serious Questions Raised

4. हरियाणा ने बनाया सरकारी ‘गौरक्षक दल’

5. गौरक्षक ही थे मेवात में गैंगरेप करने वाले : पीड़िता का आरोप

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मेवात गैंगरेप की पीड़िता बहनें    Image: Amar Ujala

24 अगस्त को मेवात के डिंगरहेड़ी गाँव में कुछ गुंडों ने एक परिवार के घर में जबरन घुसकर उत्पात मचाया था और 20 तथा 14 वर्ष की दो लड़कियों के साथ गैंगरेप किया था। लड़कियों के मामा-मामी को गुंडों ने बाँधकर पिटाई की जिससे दंपति की मौत हो गई थी।

हालाँकि, पुलिस पूरे मामले के गौरक्षकों से संबंधित होने से लगातार इन्कार कर रही है। वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधिकारी तो यहाँ तक कह रहे हैं कि पीड़ितों ने भी अपने बयान में गौरक्षकों का नाम नहीं लिया है। राज्य सरकार ने मामले की जाँच सीबीआई से करने की सिफारिश कर दी है।
 
सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता शबनम हाशमी के साथ दिल्ली में गैंगरेप पीड़िता ने बताया, "वे लोग पूछ रहे थे कि क्या तुम लोग गौमांस खाती हो। हमने इन्कार किया लेकिन वे कहते रहे कि तुम लोग गौमांस खाते हो, इसलिए तुम्हारी यही सजा है।"
हरियाणा पुलिस ने मामले में चार लोगों को गिरफ्तार किया है। घटना के बाद से ही मेवात इलाके में तनाव फैला हुआ है।
 
पिछले कुछ महीनों में ऐसी कई घटनाएँ हुई हैं, जिनमें गौरक्षक दलों ने जानवरों की तस्करी रोकने के नाम पर कई लोगों पर हमले किए हैं। जून में एक वाहन के चालक को गौमांस ले जाने के आरोप में पीटा गया था। गौरक्षकों की ही शिकायत पर मेवात में बिरयानी की दुकानों पर पुलिस सैंपल लेकर उनमें गौमांस होने की जाँच करवा रही है।

हरियाणा में गौहत्या, गौमांस बेचना और रखना कानूनी जुर्म है और ऐसा करने पर दस साल तक का कारावास और एक लाख से पाँच लाख रुपए तक का जुर्माना का प्रावधान है।

The post गौरक्षक ही थे मेवात में गैंगरेप करने वाले : पीड़िता का आरोप appeared first on SabrangIndia.