Members of several organisations staged a day-long sit-in outside the office of Gurugram Divisional Commissioner on Wednesday demanding strict action against those trying to disturb the communal harmony in the city on the pretext of opposing Friday prayer (Jumma Namaz) in the open.
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The organisations include the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), Janwadi Mahila Samiti, Loktantrik Manch, All-India Lawyers’ Union, Democratic Youth Federation of India, Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, and Sarv Karamchari Sangh.
The speakers, including CITU State vice-president Surender Singh Malik, former Rajya Sabha member Mohammad Adib, Janwadi Mahila Samiti State general secretary Savita, Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch leader Altaf Ahmad, and Asha Workers’ Union leader Meera Rani, said the attacks on the religious minorities and Dalits are on the rise in Haryana, especially in Gurugram.
They said that right-wing leaders are carrying out attacks on communal harmony, and the country’s shared culture and heritage. “There is a conspiracy to disturb the unity and brotherhood of people of different religions, castes and regions in Gurugram, known as ‘mini India’,” they said.
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The leaders said that venom was openly spewed against the religious minorities at a mahapanchayat in Pataudi on July 4, but no action was taken against the organisers and the main speaker, despite complaints by various organisations.
The demonstrators also expressed concern over a similar situation in other States where prayer meetings are regularly disrupted and the attendees are beaten up in the guise of stopping conversion.
After the sit-in, the protesters handed over a memorandum to the district administration for the Governor demanding that the poisonous campaign against the minorities be stopped. It further demanded an end to the registration of fake cases against those supporting the victims and their arrests under stringent laws.