As Haryana’s panchayats bar Muslims from villages, minister says unlawful, will face strict action

The instructions were issued by panchayats in the wake of communal clashes in Nuh on July 31.

Vikas Yadav, the sarpanch of Sehatpur village in Ateli block of Rewari district, said, “Out of 43 panchayats of Ateli block, 30-35 panchayats have signed similar resolutions. I am also president of the sarpanch association of Ateli block. There was immense resentment among people of our villages; we did not want any confrontation or disruption of communal harmony.”

“Our main aim behind signing these resolutions is that outsiders who come and do business or stay in our villages should be verified. There could be some anti-social elements among them who create law and order disruption. Otherwise, there are four-five villages in Ateli block that are dominated by the Muslim community and they have been staying here for the last 40-50 years. Nobody has any problem with them. But our main issue is with street vendors and increased incidents of animal thefts, which is why we signed such resolutions. Until the atmosphere in Nuh does not get back to normal, we are avoiding entry of any such persons in our villages to avoid any confrontation,” he said.

Aftab Ahmed, the Congress MLA from Nuh, told The Indian Express that “under our constitution and law, such resolutions are a threat to our federal structure”. “Such activities must be dealt with stern and severe action to safeguard the Constitution of India and rule of law in the state as well as in the country. The basic concept of the nation and its Constitution is being vitiated and disturbed by such acts,” he said.

A letter written by the sarpanch of Gomla gram panchayat in Mahendragarh, dated August 3 and submitted to the Sub Divisional Magistrate (Kanina, Mahendragarh), mentions: “In wake of the attack and atrocities on Hindu brothers in Nuh, entire village Gomla and block Kanina, district Mahendragarh has unanimously decided that nobody from the Muslim community shall be allowed to enter our village. No trade, for instance, road-side vends, sale-purchase of animals, begging, etc shall also not be allowed with members of Muslim community. People from Muslim community indulge in roadside vends during day time and steal animals at night. In the wake of the violence in Nuh, we have taken this decision in the interest of communal harmony, but no community’s religious feelings shall be hurt with this.” The letter is signed by a few persons, including sarpanch Ved Prakash, and also bears a stamp of the Gomla sarpanch.

Talking to The Indian Express, Ved Prakash however said, “Our main purpose is to check the antecedents of street vendors or those coming to our village to stay on rent. We do not want to single out any particular community. We only appealed to the district administration that the antecedents of all those street vendors or other persons coming to our village, irrespective of whether he is a Hindu or Muslim, should be verified. Otherwise, there are 10-15 Muslim families who are working in the fields in our village and there is no problem with them.”

A similar resolution was passed the same day by the Bihali gram panchayat, signed by sarpanch Veena Devi and a few others on her letterhead. This too was submitted to the SDM (Mahendragarh).

Bhavna Yadav, the sarpanch of Jainabad gram panchayat in Rewari, has also passed the same resolution, which has been submitted to the police post incharge of Dahina. It states: “Our village panchayat and all the villagers have decided that no mischievous element or Muslim community members shall be permitted to put up their roadside vends or indulge in any business activity in the village… All those who are staying on rent in the village have been asked to submit their identity-proofs to you so that you can get those identity-proofs verified. A public announcement in this regard has also been made across the village.”

Rajbir Singh, Bhavna’s father-in-law who picked up when The Indian Express called her number, said: “Rewari district shares borders with Nuh. Our main purpose was to avoid any communal clash in our village… We shall be lifting this ban in a few days once the situation gets completely normal in Nuh.”

Sarpanch Narendra Yadav of Chimnawas gram panchayat submitted a similar resolution to SDM (Rewari), which states that “people from Muslim community do a recce during the day time in the garb of roadside vends and indulge in thefts of farmers’ animals in the night”.