Haryana panchayats get showcause notices over bar on entry of Muslims

On unconfirmed reports that FIRs have also been registered against some such gram panchayats and sarpanches in Rewari district, Raza said, “As far as registering FIRs or taking legal action in the matter is concerned, only the Superintendent of Police shall be able to tell.”

Rewari Superintendent of Police Deepak Saharan, however, told The Indian Express: “It is better if you speak with the Deputy Commissioner in this regard, because it is an extremely sensitive matter.”

Director General of Police P K Agrawal was not available for comments. However, senior officials of the state government said that “whatever action it merits shall be taken against whosoever attempts or indulges in disrupting communal harmony”.

On August 10, The Indian Express had reported about several gram panchayats in Rewari, Jhajjar and Mahendragarh districts passing such resolutions in an apparent reaction to the Nuh communal violence.

“I am aware of this issue. At a few places, some people passed these kinds of resolutions. But I have given clear instructions to the district administrations of all such places that such an act is not permissible under the law and if any person is indulging in issuing such diktats, strict action shall be taken against such people as per the law,” Haryana Development and Panchayat Minister Devender Singh Babli had then said.

However, the sarpanches of these villages had claimed that the main aim behind signing such resolutions was to “verify antecedents of street vendors, the majority of whom are from Muslim community, in these areas, to curb increasing incidents of animal thefts and to avoid any confrontation because the situation in Nuh.”