Inter-religious clashes displace Muslims in north India

A sense of dread hangs over Nuh, a small town in north India’s Haryana state, where Muslims are in the majority.

Two days ago, the town and nearby districts were engulfed in “communal violence”, a reference made in India for inter-religious clashes.

As the police have imposed a strict curfew, some local accounts suggest that dozens of Muslim families have fled their homes, fearing both a second round of mob attack led by radical Hindu outfits and arbitrary police detentions.

Ramzan Chaudhry, a senior lawyer and activist from Nuh, told TRT World that there are at least 2000 Muslims, mostly men, who have fled their villages in and around Nuh.

“The number could be much higher. Almost all the villages have emptied,” Chaudhry said.

Salman (name changed), a resident of Nuh, spoke to TRT World at a time when he was fleeing his home along with his family.

Salman spoke about various aspects of his life — the difficult decision to leave home, the uncertainty it poses and the initial signs of violence. Then he inquired about an old video of 19-year-old Imam Saad, which has gone viral on social media in the last couple of days.

“Have you seen it?” he asked.

On July 31, at the height of the violence, Saad was shot dead by an angry mob while he was in a mosque in Haryana’s Gurugram district, often known as the "Millennium City" for being a hub of major multinational corporations and tech giants.

After his killing, the viral video surfaced on the internet. In it, Saad was seen singing a song that reflected his love for his country. "Hindu-Muslim baith ke khaye thaali mei Aisa Hindustan bana de ya Allah" (Oh Allah! Create a Hindustan where both Hindus and Muslims feast together.)

Saad’s killing happened a few hours after a Hindu procession turned violent 47 kilometres away in Nuh.

The administration of Anjuman Jama Masjid, where Saad was killed, said that the Hindu mob entered the mosque at midnight carrying guns, swords and lathis (bamboo canes) with the intention of damaging the mosque and hurting Muslims on the premises. They were also allegedly chanting Hindu supremacist slogans.

According to the latest media reports, the death toll has touched six, and over 50 people have been injured in the communal violence in Haryana.

The government has suspended internet services in the district until August 2 and imposed a ban on the assembly of more than five people to take back control of the streets.

The Procession

On the morning of July 31, the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), two extremist organisations that believe in restoring ancient Hindu supremacy in India, organised a religious procession in Nalhar, a village in Nuh.

The VHP says that the procession was stopped by a “particular community” and pelted with stones. The VHP did not explicitly name the community, but it is widely understood to be a reference to Muslims.

A VHP spokesperson described the “attack” on their procession as "part of a well-planned conspiracy."

Haryana’s Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, condemned the violence in Nuh but appeared to repeat the talking points of the VHP spokesperson, putting more emphasis on the disruption of the Hindu procession.

“This is an unfortunate incident… Not just the people in Yatra but the police were also attacked… This definitely looks like a part of a big conspiracy,” Khattar told local media.

Speaking to TRT World, both Hindu and Muslim residents say that in the run-up to the procession led by VHP and Bajrang Dal workers, provocative media content targeting Muslims was circulated via WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media platforms. Locals say the entire rightwing ecosystem in the region was stimulated with chanting of near-genocidal slogans, offensive political dog whistles and other derogatory content targeting Muslims.

In a show of bravado, some radical Hindu activists vowed to take the procession through Muslim-majority neighbourhoods in Nuh.

Mewat Vikas Sabha, a social organisation based in Haryana, informed the media that the Hindu procession was a “calculated” move to stir communal violence in the Muslim-majority Nuh.

“Very provocative videos were circulated in the last two days. Despite that, the administration allowed the Yatra to enter Mewat. And when the violence began, the administration simply collapsed, and the police disappeared,” the organisation was quoted as saying in the Indian publication The Wire.

The police have not yet determined which side, Muslims or Hindus, was responsible for starting the violence. However, they have confirmed that the violence took on a communal form.

Deputy Commissioner Haryana Police, Prashant Pawar, told the media on August 1 that, at present, the situation was peaceful. He also mentioned that the Police conducted a ‘black flag march’ in the affected areas.

The crackdown

Speaking to TRT World, several people in Nuh, Gurugram and Palwal alleged that the police are conducting arbitrary arrests of Muslim men from their residences — another factor that is forcing them to flee their homes

Salman, the resident of Nuh who also left his home for safety reasons, said the police are going after the victims of the violence, who, according to him, are Muslims.

He said the police are detaining young and old, whoever they get their hands on.

As per local media reports, at least 116 people from Nuh have been detained by the police. The breakdown of the number of Muslims and Hindus who have been detained hasn’t been shared with the media yet.

Satyapal Malik, once a “faithful” servant of the BJP who administered the sensitive region of Jammu and Kashmir as governor between 2018 and 2019, said the violence in Nuh and other areas has been well-coordinated and aimed at drawing a wedge between Muslims and Hindus in the area.

This divide, he claims, exacerbates identity cleavages in the run-up to the 2024 parliamentary elections.

Manipur state in India’s northeast has been on the edge for the past three months, as the scale of violence between the Christian Kuki tribe and the Hindu Meiteis, which includes beheadings, rapes and deaths by lynchings, has caused a sense of deep insecurity in the region. The bloodletting has caused mass displacement, with hundreds of people unsure about when they could return to their homes.

The recent episode of violence in Nuh, Gurugram and other areas that are just an hour or two drive away from the Indian parliament has left many displaced Muslims wondering what the future holds for them.

"We are living in a condition of constant fear. We have been forced to leave our homes and villages. It is as though both the Hindutva goons and the police are looking for us. I don't think we can go back anytime soon," Salman said, betraying a hint of both anger and disillusionment.