Residents and migrant workers in Haryana’s Nuh fear a repeat of the communal violence that gripped the district last month, with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) planning to resume its Brijmandal Jalabhishek Yatra on August 28 even after the local administration denied permission for the rally.
The VHP yatra was abandoned midway on July 31 after violence broke out in the area that later spread to nearby Gurugram and Faridabad.
Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata told The Hindu that the permission for the procession has been denied based on a police assessment report.
“They wrote to us seeking permission and based on the police report, we have denied permission for any religious gathering in the city,” he said, adding that Section 144 of the CrPC (prohibits public gathering) is still in place in the district.
However, VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal told The Hindu that nobody can stop them from taking out the yatra.
“The administration’s duty is to take action on those creating ruckus, and not to ban religious gatherings. We expect Haryana Police’s support in ensuring our safety,” Mr. Bansal said.
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Fear and anxiety
Meanwhile, fear has gripped the residents and migrant workers as they feel anything could happen if the yatra resumes.
Momina Hasan, 35, who lives in Kherla village, has told her children to keep their bags packed in case violence breaks out again. “We will leave the place for good,” she said.
After more than three weeks of the communal violence, which left six persons dead and a number of houses demolished in the aftermath, most families are struggling to resume their daily lives.
Ms. Hasan’s husband works in Gurugram as a driver. It has been three weeks since her children, aged eight and 10, have been to school. “I will think of sending my children to school only if the situation remains normal next week. Before that, one can’t be sure of anything. I look at the calendar every day and dread to see that August 28 is nearing. I told my husband to take us back to our village in Bihar at the slightest hint of any violence.”
Ms. Hasan is not alone in her anxiety. Hundreds of migrant workers, most of them from West Bengal, who were forced to leave their shacks in Palra village of Gurugram’s Sector 70 after threats from a right-wing outfit, are also sceptical of returning before August 28.
Mohsin Ali, 41, who used to clean cars in a nearby housing society, went back to his village in West Bengal following the violence.
“I borrowed some money from my employer and brought my wife and three children back to my village in Malda. We were planning to go back, but now they are saying there is another rally,” he told The Hindu over phone.
“I have not earned a single penny in the last 20 days and have been living with my sister here. How long can we survive like this without work?” he said.
Moli, 25, is equally worried. “We are here only to earn a living, either poverty or communal violence will kill us one day.”
