Nuh, Haryana: Hindu organisations Monday performed jalabhishek ceremony (involving pouring of water on idols) in Shiva temples located in Nalhar, Ferozepur Jhirka and Singar village of Punhana block in Haryana’s Nuh district amid a curfew-like atmosphere. The district had witnessed communal violence after clashes erupted on 31 July during the ‘Braj Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra’, a procession organised by Hindu groups Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Matra Shakti Durga Vahini.
Around six people, including two personnel of the Haryana Home Guards, lost their lives in the violence and over 80 were injured. Additionally, property worth crores was destroyed in the clashes.
Though the official curfew imposed by the district authorities in Nuh has since been lifted, all shops, commercial establishments, banks, schools, colleges and even hospitals remained closed in the district Monday after Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata issued prohibitory orders in view of the announcement by the VHP that the Jalabhishek Yatra will resume.
The state government, however, had made it clear that while people were free to offer jalabhishek at temples, no ‘yatra’ would be permitted. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (prohibiting assembly of four or more individuals) is still in place in Nuh.
“On the call given by Sarva Jatiye Hindu Mahapanchayat (an assembly of all the 52 ‘pals’ or gotra panchayats from the Mewat region) and under the guidance of ascetics, the entire Hindu Samaj of Mewat Monday performed jalabhishek in the traditional Mahabharata-era temples of Nuh district,” said Vinod Bansal, VHP’s national spokesperson, to ThePrint.
Nearly 50 people, including those from Sant Samaj, Sarva Jatiye Hindu Mahapanchayat and VHP participated in the event spread over three temples.
“Led by Arun Jaildar, chairman of the Sarva Jatiye Mahapanchayat, and Alok Kumar, national treasurer of the VHP, jalabhishek was performed at Nalhar temple at noon. After this, the ceremony was performed in Shiv Temple at Ferozepur Jhirka, and finally at Singar village of Punhana at 4 pm. We are happy that those who wanted to put obstacles on the path of the yatra could not succeed,” said Bansal, adding that several prominent names, such as Mahamandaleshwar Swami Dharamdev Ji Maharaj and Narayan Giri Ji Maharaj also participated in the event.
The Shiva temple in Nalhar, where the first jalabhishek was performed, had restricted entry for the common people for the occasion.
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a police officer said that three vehicles of the participants were taken to all three temples amid heavy security to ensure that there is no incident.
DC Khadgata told ThePrint that the event concluded in a “peaceful manner” with all sections of the society contributing towards its completion. He also added that normalcy was fast returning to Nuh.
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Heightened security, drones deployed
On the road from Gurugram to Nuh, several barricades had been erected where Haryana Police and paramilitary forces were stopping every vehicle and allowing entry only to those living in Nuh.
A police constable on duty near Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Expressway told ThePrint that they had been on duty since 4 am. Even the entry and exit to the KMP Expressway — taken by most travelling to Nuh — had been closed for the day.
“We must have returned hundreds of vehicles as we have the orders not to allow anyone to cross this barrier,” said the constable.
One such vehicle was that of Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya, who was travelling from Ayodhya to Nalhar. He was stopped by the police at a toll plaza on the Gurgaon-Sohna road. Following this, Acharya announced fast-unto-death till he was allowed to proceed to Nuh, and sat on a dharna along with an accompanying disciple under the sun on the roadside.
“I will either go to Nalhar and perform jalabhishek in the Shiv temple or, if the police don’t allow me to proceed, I will keep sitting here on fast-unto-death,” said Acharya when ThePrint team spoke to him on the way to Nuh.
However, when the Print team returned at around 5.45 pm, Jagadguru Paramhans Acharya was not seen on the dharna site. When contacted by ThePrint, the driver of his car — who had introduced himself as ‘Pilot Baba’ — said they were not given permission to proceed to Nuh and were on their way to Mathura from where they would leave for Ayodhya the next day.
“Acharyaji performed Jalabhishek at the dharna site and prayed for the souls of those killed during the 31 July violence,” he said.
Similar barricades were erected on the outskirts of Sohna town, at the main chowk in Nuh, at Tiranga chowk, Nalhar T-point, near Saheed Hasan Khan Mewati Medical College and Hospital, the Shiv Temple road and, finally, 100 meters ahead of the temple.
Meanwhile, in Nuh, Congress MLA Aftab Ahmed’s younger brother Mehtab told ThePrint that people were relieved the yatra had ended peacefully, adding that Aftab was in Chandigarh because of the monsoon session of the assembly.
He added that had the district authorities deployed even one-tenth of the security the police deployed Monday, the unfortunate incidents of 31 July wouldn’t have happened at all.
“Leave alone the additional security forces, even if the DC and the SP had been there to command the police, the incident could have been avoided,” said Mehtab who practices law in Nuh’s district courts.
Nuh resident and author, Saddique Ahmad Meo told ThePrint that drones had been deployed in the district for added security.
“They are using drones to ensure people have not collected stones on their rooftops. I noticed a drone hovering above my residence and other neighboring houses twice during the day,” said Meo who has authored over 10 books on Mewat history.
According to him, Muslims are heaving a sigh of relief that the jalabhishek has passed off peacefully.
He said the people had two types of fears in their minds this time. One, if they are outdoors, they could be implicated even without any involvement, and two, if the other side does some provocative act, it would become difficult for them to remain silent.
“Though there was no curfew today and the prohibition under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) only stopped more than five people from assembling at a place, Muslims had decided to remain indoors so that if there is any mischief even from the other side, their names don’t figure in FIRs because of their mobile locations,” he said.
“This is a fact that even the governments know well that Meo Muslims are peaceful by nature and they don’t pick a fight with anyone unnecessarily. But if one tests their patience, they are not going to keep quiet. You can chop the head of a Meo Muslim with love, but can’t keep expecting no reaction from them if their back is up against a wall,” he added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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