esidents of a JJ colony in Vikaspuri in West Delhi claimed that workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) allegedly tried to incite the Hindus living there to “chase away” Muslim residents on Sunday evening. The slum has been in the spotlight following the lynching of a dentist last week.
The slum dwellers alleged that the RSS workers gathered in the area around 4 p.m. on Sunday and made inflammatory speeches against the Muslim residents. However, the police quickly arrived and dispersed the gathering before the situation could take an ugly turn.
Following the incident, a good number of policemen were deployed at the slum as well as in the locality where dentist Pankaj Narang was beaten to death by a mob in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday. A senior police officer said that some mischievous elements continued to visit the slum even on Monday, but the policemen deployed there did not allow them to cause any trouble.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh termed the gathering as a “routine meeting” of its local Shakha and claimed that no attempts were made to chase out the Muslims, as has been alleged.
“We are saying that the entire colony is illegal and needs to be removed from there irrespective of the religion of its residents,” Rajeev Tuli, the RSS’ Delhi spokesperson told The Hindu .
But, the local residents, including some Hindus, gave a different version of the Sunday incident. According to Yamin, a local resident, around 50-60 men held a meeting inside the local Radha Krishna temple before gathering on a vacant ground nearby.
“They were RSS men and had ‘tilaks’ on their foreheads. One was wearing a saffron head gear. They were addressing scores of Hindu residents whom they had called out of their houses. Within minutes, 400-500 persons from the slum and nearby areas gathered there. The entire incident was recorded by a Hindi news channel, which had arrived with the RSS workers as well as by some locals,” alleged Yamin.
According to Amresh Kumar, who claimed to be associated with the RSS until a few weeks ago, the “organisers” of the gathering allegedly included some Hindu slum dwellers too. “The elders from our slum have taken those youths (accompanying the RSS workers) to task and explained to them that creating discord within the colony would affect them as well,” Kumar told The Hindu .
“Those addressing the gathering were telling the Hindus to chase away the Muslims from the slum if they wanted the colony to exist in the future,” alleged Chhote Khan, an elderly Muslim resident, who claimed that he requested the organisers to keep away from the slum.
“They chased away anyone with a beard or a skull cap. When I requested them to stop inciting the slum dwellers against each other, they threatened to apply ‘tilak’ on my forehead. I moved away to avoid problems,” alleged Khan.
The situation was brought under control by a police team which arrived at the spot. “We chased away everyone and have been camping here since then. There has been no trouble after that,” said a police officer.
The slum dwellers said they have been talking to the residents to foil any attempt to create a discord. “Hindus and Muslims have been living here peacefully for the last 27 years. We attend weddings and funerals at each others’ homes. We know we have to remain united,” said Amarjeet, a resident.
Ever since Mr. Narang was brutally killed by a mob, allegedly including people from the slum, some politicians as well as a section of social media users have been trying to give the incident a communal colour.
However, the police have denied any communal angle in Mr. Narang’s murder, even mentioning that the nabbed suspects included five Hindus and four Muslims.
RSS terms gathering as a “routine meeting” of its local Shakha, claims no attempts were made to chase out Muslims
