Security arrangements have been stepped up and outsiders will be barred from entering Nuh district and other areas following the Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat’s call for a ‘shobha yatra’ on Monday, despite the authorities denying permission for the procession.
Meanwhile Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday asked the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal to not carry out their Jalabhishek Yatra on Monday and urged people to instead worship in local temples but the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has defied the directive and has said they would go ahead with the religious processon on Monday in Nuh.
Permission has not been granted for the ‘yatra’, Khattar said in Panchkula on Sunday, referring to the Nuh violence that took place a few weeks earlier.
:Instead of the ‘yatra’, people can visit temples in their areas for ‘jalabhishek’,: he said and asserted that it is the State Government’s responsibility to maintain law and order. Khattar’s remarks came days after the two groups insisted that they would go ahead with their planned procession.
It is the same religious procession that could not be concluded on July 31 when it came under attack from a mob. On July 31, a religious procession organised by VHP came under attack in Nuh. Five people, including two Home Guard personnel, were killed. The violence then spread to nearby Gurugram district where mosques and shops were attacked and a Muslim cleric was killed.
In light of the VHP’s defiance, security has been beefed in Nuh and internet and bulk SMS services hae been banned in the district. It has also imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, preventing the assembly of four or more people in an area, till Monday. Gurugram police has appealed people not to join the Yatra.
Officials said security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil. Security at inter-State and inter-district borders has also been tightened, they said. A few locals said they have no objection to holding the religious procession if it is allowed but asserted that there should be no provocative sloganeering during the yatra.
August 28 is the last Monday of the holy month of Shravan. As a precautionary measure, the district administration has ordered the closure of educational institutions and banks on the day, suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS services, and imposed prohibitory orders in the communally-sensitive district. It has also imposed Section 144 of the CrPC, prohibiting the assembly of four or more people in an area, till Monday.
Multiple layers of barricades have been erected by police at various points and vehicles entering Nuh were thoroughly checked by security personnel.
The Haryana Chief Minister is learnt to have held a meeting with Director General of Police (DGP) Shatrujeet Kapur in Chandigarh on Sunday to take stock of the situation. ADGP CID Alok Mittal was also present at the meeting.
Meanwhile, the Board of School Education, Haryana, on Sunday announced the postponement of the diploma in elementary education exam in Nuh. The exam, which was to take place on Monday, will now be held on September 4.
It said the decision to postpone the exam was taken in the wake of the imposition of prohibitory orders and the closure of schools in Nuh on Monday. The government has also announced the suspension of mobile internet from August 26 to 28.