Massive violence gripped Haryana’s Nuh district on July 31 after a Muslim mob attacked the Jalabhishek procession organized by Hindus. Mamata Singh, ADGP Law and Order, spoke to the media about the critical situation that developed in Nuh on the day Islamists unleashed mayhem on the streets and the difficulties the police encountered in evacuating the Hindus who were left stuck in the temple.
Mamata Singh led the police squad that saved the 2500–3000 Hindus who were trapped in a hostage situation at the Nalhar temple on the fateful day.
In a video shared on Twitter by India TV, the IPS officer recounted how the Islamists, armed with stones and sophisticated weapons, carried out the planned attack on the Hindu devotees who had reached there to take part in the Jalabhishek Yatra on the auspicious Monday of the Shravan month.
नूंह हिंसा पर बड़ा खुलासा…देखिए, हरियाणा की एडीजी लॉ एंड ऑर्डर ममता सिंह ने क्या कहा..#NuhVoilence #Mewat #StonePelting #HaryanaPolice @manishindiatv pic.twitter.com/YjcrFIyQiu
— India TV (@indiatvnews) August 3, 2023
Describing the situation in Nuh on the day the violence happened to be extremely critical, the IPS officer said that when she reached there she was told that there were 2500 to 3000 people who were trapped in the Nalhar Temple.
Further explaining the challenges the police faced while trying to save the Hindus trapped in the Nalhar Temple, Mamata Singh recalled how large-scale firing continued to happen from the hills surrounding the temple on three sides. The IPS officer added that though police were present there in large numbers they were hugely outnumbered by the rioters.
“In a situation like this, it was no less than a challenge for the police to free the trapped Hindu devotees, which included several women, small children and the aged. Since the rioters kept spraying bullets from all three sides, we asked our policemen to use retaliatory firing so that we could get cover which would, in turn, help us enter the Temple and free the trapped devotees,” recalled ADGP Mamata Singh.
Continuing to divulge more details of the mayhem unleashed by Islamists in the Nuh district during the rally, the IPS officer said, “Even when it was about to get dark, the shooting continued. The rioters were deliberately firing in the direction where they spotted people gathered in greater numbers rather than targeting a specific individual in order to cause the most damage. Going by the severity of the situation, we realised that we would have to evacuate the devotees in small groups.”
“I first led the women out of the temple. They were all petrified. In such a situation, we had to pacify them, assure them that they would be safe as well as make sure that they were safely evacuated. It was a mammoth task,” Mamata Singh said, adding that she had to lead the devotees through the fields since the size and scale of the arson on all the roads leading to the temples was so huge that those routes could not be used.
Upon being questioned on the role of social media in mobilising the rioters, Mamata Singh said that there were certain objectionable posts that were removed and that their technical team is still at work.
Notably, Central authorities and ministries have launched a massive crackdown on around 100 social media handles that have been exceedingly engaged and continuously participating in circulating misinformation about the Nuh violence. According to the police, they are utilising the disturbance in Haryana to forward their nefarious objective, which could weaken the law and order situation or further destabilise the peace in the state.
As many as six people have been killed in the violence which gripped Haryana’s Nuh on July 31. The Haryana Police has arrested 116 people involved in the riots which spilt over into Palwal, Faridabad and Gurugram after stones were pelted by an Islamic mob on a Yatra by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
The consolidated list of 7 FIRs revealing how rioters targeted police during Nuh violence can be read here. OpIndia’s complete coverage of the Mewat Shobha Yatra Attack can be checked here.
