Ballabhgarh communal violence: Peace talks fail as police yet to make arrests
This is the second time that a meeting between the two communities has failed.
Members of the two communities at a meeting held on Saturday. (Source: Express photo by Gajendra Yadav)
Tension continued at Ballabagarh after meetings to persuade the Muslim community to return to Atali village proved futile for the second consecutive day. The families had fled the village following the communal violence on Monday evening. They are currently camped at the city police station.
A delegation of Jats, along with members of the district administration, had met the Muslims on Saturday and promised them that there will be no further violence.
However, the Muslims refused to return. “We can’t believe them any more. Such promises were made twice before as well. But after Monday, we simply cannot return unless our demands our met,” Mumtaz Ali, a community leader, said.
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This is the second time that a meeting between the two communities has failed. On Friday, a meeting was held at the village where both communities were to meet and try to find a way forward. But the administration admitted that no one from the Muslim community came for the meeting.
The district administration said the main point of discord continues to be the construction of a mosque on land which is in dispute. While the Muslims maintain the mosque is being built on Waqf land, the Jats say the land belongs to the gram panchayat. The issue became the flashpoint for the rioting that saw 2,000 heavily armed men torch down Muslims homes in an hour-long rampage.
Meanwhile, Jat villagers maintained that the issue was being polarised by certain “elements” in the Muslim community, who wanted to ensure that the tension continued. “We want to forget the fight and live peacefully. But there are some elements who want the tension to continue,” Satish Chaudhury, a villager who was at the meeting, said.
Police said they were still trying to arrest the accused in the case, which is the immediate demand of the Muslims. “Those who attacked us, burnt our homes and desecrated our mosque should be arrested. If a Muslim commits a crime, he is immediately arrested. Why should it be different for them,” Firoz Ali, a villager, said.
But police said the investigation was still ongoing and they are still tracing the accused, who fled the village after the rioting.
“We are investigating the matter. Those who have been named in the FIR will be arrested. There is no way they can escape. They have fled the village and we are in the process of tracing them. However, we are proceeding carefully because the situation is sensitive. We don’t want any more violence in the village and we are doing everything we can to ensure that peace continues,” Subhash Yadav, Commissioner of Police, Faridabad, said.
Committee report will be sent to NHRC: AAP
New Delhi: The AAP on Saturday said a detailed report of the four-member fact-finding team, that was constituted to look into the riot-hit Ballabgarh district, will be sent to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
The team also includes two AAP MLAs from Delhi — Naresh Balyan and Amanatullah Khan.
The team’s preliminary findings maintain that on May 25, Muslims residing in Atali village in Ballabgarh were targeted while they were offering evening prayers at a mosque. It said police failed to control the situation.
Attacking the BJP-led state government for its insensitivity in dealing with the situation, the party in a statement said, “Local police did not try to diffuse the communal tension and allowed Muslims to be targeted. Media reports clearly show that the rioting was orchestrated over a five-year-old dispute. The state machinery preferred to turn a blind eye and allowed perpetrators to unleash violence over helpless villagers. The Haryana government appears to be punishing the victims for their religious identity.” ENS
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