Nuh clashes: Haryana govt turns the heat on accused finally

By arresting Nuh’s Congress legislator Mamman Khan after bringing two “cow vigilantes’’ to the book in connection with the violence, the ruling BJP-JJP government seems to have made up its mind to deal with such incidents with firm hand, reports Rajesh Moudgil The July 31 communal clashes in Nuh town and adjoining areas of Haryana caught the state government napping leading to six casualties and massive damage to public and private properties. For, there were immense indications of the possibility of the situation turning ugly ahead of it in view of hatred being spread through social media for several days, and yet it happened. The venom-filled rants on the social media were galore prior to July 31 violent clashes that erupted between the two communities during a religious procession taken out by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal after the cow vigilante Monu Manesar, one of the main accused in the infamous case of brutal killing of two Muslim youths cattle traders Nasir and Junaid in Bhiwani town of Haryana, announced to join the said religious procession. This provoked sharp reactions from the members of other communities triggering the said hatred spread on the social media from both sides. Even though Monu did not take part in the procession, another cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi allegedly provoked the rival groups which had objected to Monu’s announcement to take part in the procession despite their repeated calls against it to Rajasthan and Haryana police. The clashes erupted when miscreants pelted stones on the religious procession – Brijmandal Jalabhishek Yatra, and quickly spread to not only in various areas of the Muslim-dominated Nuh district (also popularly called Mewat) but also the nearby Sohna town of Gurugram district bordering Delhi. Result? Six people including two Home Guards, two Bajrang Dal activists and a naib imam were killed over 80 others, mainly police personnel, grievously hurt and dozens of vehicles set on fire, besides massive damage to public and private properties. Even though Nuh remained under curfew and without mobile internet services for days together, the situation in the area again later became tense with several Hindu outfits holding a “maha panchayat’’ in Palwal and announcing to resume the same procession in the Nuh on August 28. However the day passed off peacefully, with the government being extra vigilant and again putting heavy police deployment of about 2,000 personnel of Haryana police and 24 companies of paramilitary forces to keep a strict watch, deploying drones, putting check-points at various inter-state as well as intra and inter-district points across the district, besides taking other measures.