Political parties condemned communal violence that engulfed Nuh and spread to parts of Gurgaon in Haryana. Five people including two home guard personnel got killed in the clashes as sporadic incidents continued on Tuesday.
The violence started after Vishwa Hindu Parishad carried out a religious yatra in the region. The VHP said that it carries out yatra every year to visit temples during one of the Mondays of the Hindu Sawaan month. Within 15 minutes, its yatra was attacked with stones and shots were fired. “The rioters started torching the vehicles and attacked the yatra. There were over 20,000 people in the yatra. The government should take strict action against them,” VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain said.
The VHP will carry out protests at the district headquarters on Wednesday. The VHP has announced nationwide protests against the attack on their yatra and the death of two Bajrang Dal activists.
After the violence, the state administration clamped down on the internet and had shut down educational institutions to stop the spread of violence. Haryana CM M.L. Khattar alleged that the attack on the yatra was a conspiracy.
According to some accounts, the violence had erupted over the suspected presence of a cow activist in the yatra, who is accused of killing two Muslim youth for which Rajasthan Police had registered a case. The Bajrang Dal activist had posted a video on social media saying that he would participate in the yatra as he exhorted others to participate too. Sources denied that the cow activist had attended the yatra.
After the round of violence on Monday, there were incidents of violence in some parts of Gurgaon on Tuesday where shops and shanties of a particular community were attacked.
As the region neighbours Delhi and Rajasthan, the atmosphere was tense if the violence could spread. The local authorities held peace committee meetings between the two communities in Nuh and Sohna. Internet has been shut in parts of Nuh, Sohna and neighbouring region, while section 144 has been imposed and educational institutions shut in several cities.
