Gurugram: A village panchayat in Haryana has passed a resolution prohibiting any person from the Muslim community from entering the village for any kind of trade or to peddle clothes or other commodities.
The gram panchayat of Jainabad village in Dahina block of Rewari district Friday passed this resolution, addressed to the in-charge of Dahina Police post. The resolution in Hindi, a copy of which is with ThePrint, carries the subject line: “Samaajik suraksha va shantipriya mahaul banaye rakhne hetu (with an aim to ensure social security and a peaceful atmosphere).”
It goes on to read that in view of the communal violence in Nuh, the panchayat as well as villagers have taken a decision that “mischievous elements” or “anyone from the Muslim community” will not be allowed to conduct any trade or peddle commodities in Jainabad.
The village has witnessed incidents of theft of cattle and other things in the past, it says, adding that the step is being taken to ensure that such incidents don’t happen in the future.
It further states that the action is not intended to hurt any sentiments.
According to an endnote, part of the resolution, a public announcement was made in the village on 3 August, asking all tenants to deposit their identity proofs with the Panchayat which will then be sent for police verification.
ThePrint reached Jainabad Sarpanch Bhavna Yadav for comment but was told by Rajvir Singh Yadav, who introduced himself as her father-in-law, that the resolution was handed over to Dahina police post in-charge sub-inspector Ran Singh on 4 August.
However, Singh told ThePrint Monday that the resolution banning the entry of people to the village on the basis of religion is illegal and against the spirit of the Constitution. “As far as verification of ID proofs of tenants is concerned, it is a routine exercise the police does, but the panchayat doesn’t have the right to ban entry of people on the basis of their religion,” he said.
Asked whether the police informed the panchayat regarding the illegality, the SI claimed no complaint had been registered in this regard.
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‘In the interest of Muslims’
According to Rajvir Singh, “all villagers were unanimous” that the panchayat pass this resolution.
“The villagers have seen videos of violence at Nuh, and they are not willing to take any chances. The purpose of the resolution is to keep the peace and tranquility of the village intact. We don’t have anyone from the Muslim community in our village and we don’t want people from Mewat, who come here to peddle clothes or for the sale and purchase of cattle, coming to our village,” he added.
On whether the village witnessed incidents of theft because of people who come there to peddle or trade cattle, he said incidents of theft continue to happen but it’s not known who is behind them.
Rajvir Singh insisted that the resolution is also “in the interest of the Muslim community”.
“The manner in which sentiments of the Hindu community are deeply hurt after the Nuh violence, villagers could attack them if they come,” he said, adding that if the situation improves in the coming days, the panchayat can resolve to allow people from the Muslim community to enter the village.
He also pointed out that the panchayat of Jainabad was not the only one in Haryana to have passed such a resolution.
ThePrint accessed copies of almost identical resolutions passed by village panchayats of Chimnawas in Rewari district, besides panchayats of Gomla and Bihali in Mahendragarh district earlier this month.
Narender Yadav, sarpanch of Chimnawas village, said passing the resolution was a mistake and the panchayat has now decided to withdraw it. Asked whether the panchayat conveyed its decision to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), to whom the resolution banning entry of Muslims was addressed, he said the resolution wasn’t accepted by the SDM’s office.
Ved Prakash, Gomla sarpanch, said he never signed such a resolution and someone else might have signed it in his place, while Veena Devi, sarpanch of Bihali village did not respond to calls.
National vice-president of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), Inderjit Singh, said that in the past such calls for boycott were issued by self-styled panchayats, but this was the first time a resolution was issued by a duly-elected panchayat using its official letterhead.
Terming this as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s “ploy to polarise voters” ahead of next year’s elections, the former state secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said that such calls for boycott could lead to “very dangerous social ramifications”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)