Haryana: ‘Why only Muslims?’

The authorities on Sunday razed several structures in the violencehit Nuh district including a hotelcumrestaurant which officials alleged was used to throw stones on a religious procession early last week As Haryanarsquos demolition drive enters Day 4 the minority community questions the lsquoselectiversquo clean up of the governmentThe district administration said they have identified 16 illegal structures that will be bulldozed on Sunday the fourth day of demolition drive in NuhSubdivisional Magistrate Ashwani Kumar said these structures were built illegally and were used by ldquohooligansrdquo to throw stones during the recent violence The administration on Saturday bulldozed alleged illegal structures on 26 acres of land around Nalhar Medical College Nearly 45 alleged illegal commercial shops comprising pharmacy stores have been razed to the ground hereA bulldozer demolishes the allegedly illegally constructed Sahara hotel in Nuh Haryana on Sunday PicPTISix people including two home guards and a cleric died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh when the Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked by mobs on MondaylsquoSelective targetingrsquoZamil Khan a resident of Nuh expressed concern over the recent events where armed Hindu activists shouted provocative slogans during a procession He pointed out that the police instead of taking action against them seemed to be selectively targeting Muslim propertiesldquoThe authorities have chosen to demolish homes and shops belonging to Muslims only Why havenrsquot they taken any action against those responsible for the violence and those who openly brandished weapons during the rallyrdquo he askedZamil believed that this approach was an attempt to appease Hindutva groups that sought to disrupt the social harmony and communal amity that had existed in the area for many years His home had been demolished leaving him homelessLivelihood snatchedHaroon Khan whose shanty and juice booth were demolished said he had no involvement in the riots or those involvedHis juice booth was his livelihood Now he is worried about providing for his family of threeA Hindu resident working as a construction labourer also acknowledged that both communitiesrsquo poor people had suffered due to the violence He has decided to return to his village in Odisha for safety and stabilityMeanwhile Congress Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda demanded an inquiry into the Nuh violence by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a high court Speaking to IANS Hooda pointed out that the Mewat region in general and Nuh in particular did not see any violence even during Partition6No of people killed since violence erupted in NuhThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever