Nuh Violence: Panchayat Heads Issue Letters 'Barring' Muslim Traders From Entering Villages

Amid communal tension in some parts of the state, letters barring Muslim traders from villages allegedly issued by some panchayat heads in Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts of Haryana have come to light on social media

New Delhi: Amid communal tension in some parts of the state, letters allegedly issued by some panchayat heads in Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts of Haryana have come to light on social media, which ‘bar’ Muslim traders from their villages, news agency PTI reported. The letters, which are almost similar, refer to the violence in Nuh district on July 31, when a mob attacked a procession of Vishva Hindu Parishad. The violence in Nuh claimed the lives of five people, including two home guards, and a cleric was killed in an assault on a mosque in neighbouring Gurugram as the violence spread.

The district authorities said they have noticed the letters online and are probing the matter. The purported letters by sarpanches of some villages said they have decided not to allow the Muslim community and troublemakers to do any business in their villages. It mentions peddlers, cattle traders and beggars. However, many sarpanches in Mahendergarh and Rewari denied having written any such letters mentioning a specific community.

Mahendergarh Deputy Commissioner Monika Gupta said no such letters have been submitted to the government officials. “We have taken suo motu cognisance of what is going on in the media and are inquiring into the matter,” PTI quoted her as saying. She said they have asked for reports from field officers on this issue. Ved Prakash, the sarpanch of Gomla village in Kanina block of Mahendergarh district, said, “What I had written was a different matter. It does not name any particular community”. He did not give more details.

Another sarpanch from Mahendergarh district said to PTI that they are only checking identity credentials of strangers, which he said was a general exercise unrelated to any community. Chimnawas village Sarpanch in Rewari Narender Yadav said, “I have not issued any such letter as is being claimed.”

However, Vikas, the sarpanch of Saidpur in Mahendergarh said he had issued a letter but it was not sent to the SDM, nor was any resolution passed by the village. He did not talk about the contents of the letter. “The situation in the village, which has a population of 3,500, was tense after the Nuh incident and any outsider could have faced any untoward incident,” Vikas said to PTI.

When asked whether the letter had any reference to a particular community, he said, “We are not against any community. But after the kind of incident that happened in Nuh, tempers were very high and the letter was issued to prevent any flare-up.” He said there is no Muslim population in his village, though members from the community come for work.

Jhajjar Deputy Commissioner, Capt Shakti Singh, said some mischief-makers might have used the letter head of any panchayat and circulated that. He said they are investigating it. He said no such letter has been submitted to officials. He said no gram panchayat or anyone else will be permitted to do anything that is unconstitutional or illegal.

Meanwhile, officials said 57 FIRs have been registered in connection with the Nuh violence and 188 people arrested so far. They said an FIR was also filed against 11 people for spreading rumours on social media on the violence.