Nuh/Haryana: Jaina Devi sits with a veil covering her face, sobbing inconsolably. Her eldest daughter Khushi tries to console her, but in vain. It has been 11 days since Jaina’s husband Shakti Singh died in the communal clashes that broke out in Haryana’s Nuh on 31 July during the Braj Mandal Yatra rally.
Shakti, 35, who worked as a halwai (sweet-maker) at a sweet shop owned by a Muslim man at Badkali chowk, was found dead in between Bhadas village and Badkali chowk, about 1 km from his house.
He had stepped out to check what was the commotion about as the violence had spread out from Nuh that day and also wanted to look for his younger brother Omveer who taught Maths in Gurukul.
He heard that there was a siege on Gurukul by the mob and wanted to get his brother out but could never reach there. He was allegedly attacked with rods and sticks and beaten to death before he reached.
“He left home around 5:30 pm. We kept trying his phone but couldn’t reach him. Some in that area asked in our village if a man was missing and that’s when we found out that he was killed,” Shakti’s elder brother Somveer, who works at a furniture shop, said.
His wife and children say they have no idea why he stepped out that day. “He told me he is going for a walk. I thought it’s an normal walk, I didn’t know there was communal violence even though we did smoke. I only came to know later that he was murdered by the mob,” Jaina said. “Who will take care of our four children now?”
As tensions broke out in Nuh, a Muslim-majority district in Haryana’s Mewat region, stone-pelting and arson followed with violence eventually spread to neighbouring Nagina and Ferozepur Jhirka towns, and then to Gurugram.
Five people in Nuh and one in Gurugram lost their lives in the communal clashes that followed in the region. More than 170 people were arrested in Nuh, a vast majority of them were Muslims.
ThePrint visited Shakti and home guard Neeraj Lal’s house in Haryana who were allegedly killed in the violence.
‘I will be back soon’
At Neeraj Lal’s house in Garhi Bazidpur, his father Chiranji Lal sits near the Peer Baba mazar near their house, weeping. “He told me in the morning he is going for duty. The police officers then took him to Nuh for duty. He never came back. I don’t know who killed him, why he was killed and how he died. Before the funeral, when we washed his body, I saw injuries on his head, shoulder and stomach,” Lal said.
The retired Armyman now wants the government to help his daughter-in-law get a job so that she can take care of the children.
Home Guard Neeraj’s father Chiranji Lal outside his house | Praveen Jain | ThePrint
“Like all other days, he left around 11 am for duty. He would always call during lunch hour, but that day he didn’t. I couldn’t reach his number and thought he might be busy. It’s only the next day I came to know that he is dead. Initially, family members had said that he had injured his leg. I don’t know how he died. He had told me in the morning he will be back soon that day,” Neeraj’s wife Waqeela said.
In their tiny bedroom, photos of Neeraj, 37, in uniform hangs with other brothers in the family. Tears rolled down her eyes as Waqeela showed the photos.
Another homeguard Gursev Singh, 32, from Fatehpuri also allegedly died, according to the Nuh police, like Neeraj from the heavy stone pelting during the communal clash. He is survived by his wife Gurvinder Kaur, and two children Manjoy and Akamjot.
“We have been told by the authorities that he died due to stone pelting. He was the only son and the sole breadwinner of his family,” Gursev cousin Inji Singh said.
Both Neeraj and Gursev were posted in Gurugram but were called in for duty, police said.
Among those who died in the violence are Bajrang Dal members Pradeep Sharma and Abhishek Chauhan. Sharma, 30, worked at an utensils shop in Gurugram and lived with his elder brother Deepak there. Both brothers have been members of the Bajrang Dal.
On that fateful day, Pradeep only had come for the rally. “I didn’t know he had gone to the rally. We got a call from the police that he is injured. He had only gone there as a pilgrim. They assaulted him with rods and sticks,” Deepak said. “I had gone to Nuh to see him and brought him to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, but he didn’t survive”.
Pradeep’s body was taken for last rites to their native village in Baghpat. He is survived by his wife Deepa, his parents and by three brothers.
Another victim was Naib Imam Mohammed Saad of Anjuman Masjid in Gurugram’s Sector 57. The 22-year-old cleric was attacked by a mob a couple of hours after the violence in Nuh in an alleged revenge attack.
He was stabbed multiple times after which the mob torched the masjid leaving the naib imam dead and another caretaker injured. He was supposed to go back to his home in Bihar’s Sitamarhi on 1 July. But, it was never to happen.
(Edited by Tony Rai)