As the violence broke out during a procession organized by the right-wing group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Haryana’s Nuh district on Monday, it quickly escalated to other parts of the state, including Gurugram, where a Hindutva mob set a mosque on fire and fired gunshots.
The naib imam of the Anjuman Masjid in Sector 57 in Gurugram, identified as 19-year-old Saad, lost his life in the Hindutva attack, and two others were injured. A naib imam is the deputy to the imam of the mosque.
The mosque authorities said that the Hindutva mob arrived around midnight carrying guns, swords and lathis. They were chanting “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.
Saad was the resident of Maniyadih village in the Bihar’s Sitamarhi.
At least four people were killed, including two Home Guards named Gurusevak and Neeraj, and an unidentified individual in the violence so far. Moreover, at least 20 others were injured during the outbreak of violence.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code have been imposed in the district to prevent the assembly of five or more people and the internet services in the district suspended, said Deputy Commissioner Prashant Panwar.
Tension was brewing in the region after Bajrang Dal member Monu Mansar, a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of two young Muslim men in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur in February this year, in a video on social media a few days back claimed that he and his team would be part of the procession.
The locals opposed Monu’s visit to Nuh because of his involved in the murder case saying that it would disturb communal harmony in the region.
The violence broke out around Monday noon when around half-a-dozen vehicles carrying devotees reached Nuh Chowk leading to rumours that Monu Manesar was inside one of the vehicles.
“The vehicles had ‘Gorakshak’ written on them fuelling rumours that Monu Manesar was inside them. As soon as the vehicles reached Nuh Chowk, a handful of teenagers pelted stones on the vehicles. Soon, the mob from the neighbouring villages descended on the road and went on the rampage,” The Hindu quotes Gurugram’s Pintu Singh, 36, as saying. He sustained a shrapnel injury in the attack, the newspaper reported.
