Haryana communal violence | Hundreds flee Gurugram slum cluster

Two days after the communal violence in Nuh, residents of a slum cluster in Palra village of Gurugram’s Sector 70A fled the area while the remaining live in fear

A day after open threats were issued to them, residents of a slum cluster in Palra village of Gurugram’s Sector 70A on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, said majority of the families, most of them from parts of West Bengal, fled the area while the remaining live in fear with some spending the night in a wooded area even as the Gurugram police continue to deny any incident in the area.

The flames of the communal violence, that began in the Mewat region’s Nuh on Monday after clashes broke out during a religious procession of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, spread to Gurugram and other districts of southern Haryana by Tuesday. On Tuesday, a mob of members of some right wing outfits assaulted the slum dwellers of Palra village and told them to vacate the slums and “go back to where you came from”. Some garbage and tyre puncture shops were also set ablaze in the area in the night.

Locals said nearly 800-900 families live in the slums on rent with most of them employed as garbage collectors, or domestic workers or housekeeping staff in nearby residential societies.

Nabeel Ahmad, a native of West Bengal’s Dakshin Dinajpur who cleans cars in societies, said about 25 motorbikes with two-three men each came to the area around 11 a.m. on Tuesday and started thrashing random people while asking for identity proof.

“While most of them carried lathis, some even have swords and guns. They asked our names or ID proofs and started thrashing the Muslims. They said all Muslims must leave the area by 4 p.m. or they would burn houses, said Mr. Ahmad, adding that the men thrashed women too. “Maybe they wanted to make a statement that even women will not be spared.”

He said that even though the police came soon after, the mob returned around 5.30 p.m. “One person from the mob slapped me in front of the police. The police tried to disperse them but did not take any action,” he said. 

Shabana Bibi, a domestic worker, said about 8-10 families spent the night in a nearby jungle area.