Haryana Violence: Panchayats In 50 Villages Issue Letters Barring Entry Of Muslim Traders

In response to the recent communal clashes in Nuh on July 31 and communal tension in other parts of south Haryana, over 50 panchayats in Southern Haryana's three districts -- Rewari, Mahendergarh and Jhajjar, have released identically worded letters barring entry of Muslim Traders in the villages.

In addition, the letters have also stated the requirement that resident muslims in the respective villages would need to submit their identity documents to the local police.

Many of these villages have a very small number of residents from the minority community, except for a few families.

The letters state that there is no intention to offend anyone's religious beliefs.

The sub-divisional magistrate of Narnaul (Mahendergarh), Manoj Kumar, has seen the letters on social media and has requested the block office to send show-cause notices to all the panchayats.

The physical copies of the letters have not yet been received by the sub-divisional magistrate, but he has taken action based on the information seen on social media.

The sarpanch of Saidpur in Mahendergarh stated that the letter was issued in response to the Nuh clash and a series of theft cases in the village last July. He mentioned that these unfortunate incidents began occurring after outsiders started entering their villages.

To maintain peace, a panchayat was held on August 1 where it was decided not to allow these outsiders inside the villages. However, the sarpanch withdrew the letter after being informed by his legal adviser that it was against the law to single out a community based on religion.

He clarified that the letter has been withdrawn and he is unsure how it started circulating on social media.

According to the sarpanch, Saidpur was the first village to issue the letter and other villages followed suit. In total, around 35 letters were issued from the Atali block in Mahendergarh, with the remaining letters coming from Jhajjar and Rewari.

A resident of the neighboring village, Tajpur, mentioned that the decision to issue the letter was influenced by news of violence in Nuh.

The village, consisting of 750 households, does not have any families from the minority community.

According to reports, Rajkumar, the village sarpanch, defended the decision to issue the letter, considering it a preventive measure with no harmful intentions. He explained that they had a template of the letter issued by Vikas and simply copied it.

Kunjpura sarpanch Narender clarified that he did not issue any such letter. He explained that people from the Mewat region used to come to their village for cattle rearing and other businesses.

However, due to the situation in Nuh, these businesses have come to a halt. Some individuals from the region who were living in Kunjpura have already returned to their families in Nuh.