Chandigarh: After communal clashes in Nuh district of Haryana, tension prevailed in another district of the state after Hindutva organisations like the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) held a march calling for violence against Muslims and the boycott of the community.The incident reportedly took place in Hansi city of Hisar district on August 2 at about 11 am in which a procession held by local leaders of right-wing outfits turned into a frenzy against the local Muslim population.In a 30-second video of the incident which went viral, a leader was heard making an open call to boycott local Muslim vendors and asking the community to leave the town in two days.He reportedly said only Hindu vendors would stay in town. if Muslim vendors stayed back, they would be responsible for their own fate, he addedHis speech was followed by hate sloganeering, with the crowd chanting “Desh ke gaddaro ko goli maaro saalon ko” (Shoot the traitors of the country). Other chants calling for the killing of Muslims could also be heard.“रेहड़ी वाले मुसलमान इस इलाके को खाली कर दे यहां केवल हिंदू रहेगा,वरना 2 दिन बाद जो अंजाम होगा उसका ज़िम्मेदार वो खुद रहेगा,जब मुल्ले काटे जायेंगे, देश के गद्दारों को गोली मारो सालों को”हरियाणा में हिसार के हांसी में बजरंग दल के कार्यकर्ताओं मेवात हिंसा को लेकर रोष प्रदर्शन… pic.twitter.com/02byvnZLb8— Zakir Ali Tyagi (@ZakirAliTyagi) August 3, 2023The station house officer (SHO) of Hansi city Uday Bhan Godara told The Wire that the procession was held by local leaders of the VHP and Bajrang Dal to “protest” the attack on their leaders in Nuh district. They were asked in advance to hold the march peacefully but the hate speech during the procession created tension, he said.A first information report (FIR) has been registered against four people while 12-15 unidentified people have been booked under Sections 505 (inciting communal disharmony) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion) of the Indian Penal Code. The contents of the FIR are unknown as it has not yet been made public.“While no arrest has been made yet, there has been no untoward incident after Wednesday’s religious procession,” he said, adding no exodus of people from the Muslim community was reported in the town.The SHO said that since the matter is sensitive, the FIR was not uploaded to the website of the Haryana police.After the incident, local sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Mohit Maharana also called a meeting with local Hindu leaders on Thursday to prevent any further flare up. Maharana could not be reached for comments.Chand Miyan, who is the custodian of the local Dargah in Hansi, condemned the incident and said that such incidents should not happen as they result in disharmony. He told The Wire that all communities in this town have lived in peace for years.“About 90% of the visitors to the dargah are Hindus. We all must live in harmony,” he added.Asked if the local Muslim population was worried after the boycott call, he said the situation reamins peaceful. The local police were very cooperative. “They also provided security to places of our worship after the incident,” he addedMeanwhile, similar incidents were reported in other parts of Haryana.Several villages of Mahendragarh and Rewari districts have issued similar diktats, stating that they won’t allow vendors from the Muslim community to enter their village. Ratan Singh, a sarpanch from Salarpur village in Mahendragarh, is quoted in a Hindustan Times report as saying that the decision was taken by the entire village.The sarpanch of Rewari’s Chimnawas village also echoed similar views. “People from the community roam around our village during daytime and then loot our village in night hours,” he said, adding that a memorandum will be submitted to the Rewari deputy commissioner (DC) in this regard.Note: Additional information was added to this article after it as published.
