More than 50 panchayats in three districts of Rewari, Mahendragarh and Jhajjar have issued letters to ban the entry of Muslim traders after the communal violence erupted in Nuh, Haryana. After the communal violence that erupted in Nuh, Haryana, the situation slowly started to calm down. Meanwhile, panchayats have issued these letters.
More than 50 panchayats of three districts – Rewari, Mahendragarh and Jhajjar – have issued letters prohibiting the entry of Muslim traders. These letters, signed by sarpanches, also state that Muslims living in villages will have to submit documents related to their identity to the police.
According to reports, most of the villages do not have any residents of the minority community. However, there are some families who have been living here for three to four generations. The letters have however mentioned that the panchayats do not intend to harm the religious sentiments of anyone.
The letter addressed to the SDM reads, “Considering the attacks on Hindus which recently took place in Nuh, our village has decided that no Muslim person should do any kind of business in our village. Muslims do their business during the day and commit thefts and other crimes at night. This decision is being taken looking at the incidents like the Nuh violence. This decision is being taken to maintain social harmony and not to insult anyone’s religious sentiments.”
What did the SDM say?
Narnaul (Mahendragarh) Sub-Divisional Magistrate Manoj Kumar said, “Physical copies of the letters have not been found but have seen them on social media and asked the block office to send show cause notices to all panchayats.”
He added, “Issuing such letters is against the law. However, we have not received any such letter from the panchayats. I came to know about them through media and social media. The minority community does not constitute even two per cent of the population in these villages. Everyone lives in harmony and such a notice will only hinder it.”
The stand of the Sarpanch issuing letter
The Sarpanch of Saidpur in Mahendragarh said, “The Nuh violence was the latest trigger, but several cases of theft were registered in the village in July – the last month. All the unfortunate incidents started happening only when outsiders started entering our villages. Right after the Nuh clash, we held a panchayat on August 1 and decided not to let them enter our villages to maintain peace.”
He said he withdrew the letter after his legal advisor told him that separating a community on the basis of religion was against the law. He added, “I don’t know how this letter started circulating on social media. We have withdrawn it.”
According to the Sarpanch, Saidpur was the first village to issue the letter and others followed it. He said, “Around 35 letters were issued from the Atali block of Mahendragarh. The rest were issued from Jhajjar and Rewari.”
The Sarpanch of another village Tajpur said, “Everyone has issued the letter and I should do the same. It was a preventive measure and I did not suffer any harm. We had a blueprint of the letter they had issued. We just copied it.”
On July 31, violence broke out in Haryana’s Nuh district during the ‘Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra,’ which was organized by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal. Vehicles were burnt and stones pelted at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Jalabhishek Yatra as clashes erupted between two communities in the Muslim-majority region of Mewat in Haryana.
