As soon as a few cars with saffron flags tied firmly to their front bumpers and wing mirrors appeared on the Gurgaon-Alwar national highway near Ghasera village in Haryana on Monday, a bunch of Muslim youth hurriedly walked to the middle of the road to flag down the vehicles and offer chilled water bottles and bananas to the devotees, who were part of the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra. A few other Muslim men donning skull caps, meanwhile, showered rose petals on the cars’ occupants and garlanded them.
Contrary to the violent clashes between the two communities in July last year during the Yatra in Meo Muslim-dominated Nuh that left six people dead and several others injured, the procession passed off peacefully this time with the local Muslim and Hindu community members setting up joint stalls at around two dozen locations along its route to welcome the devotees.
Nuh Ward No.5 municipal councillor Wali Mohammed said it was a joint effort of the local Hindus and Muslims of Ghasera to keep their brotherhood intact, adding that it was not done at the behest of the administration. “What happened last year was not done by the Nuh residents and the devotees. It was a conspiracy. Nuh is known for its Hindu-Muslim unity. We wanted to repair the image of this region tarnished by the communal violence last year. So, we decided to offer a grand welcome to the devotees this time,” said Arshad Hussain, Sarpanch, Bainsi village.
Besides the village panchayats and social organisations, the Nuh district bar association and Mewat Vikas Manch also set up separate stalls to welcome the devotees.
Coming out from Nalhar’s Shiv temple, which was the epicentre of the violence last year, 35-year-old Vivek Garg said he was part of the pilgrimage last year as well and had returned again this time with his mother Rooprani, 70. “The organisers and the administration had assured us about the safety and the security. There was no sense of fear. Unlike the past year, the police are present in adequate number this time,” said Mr. Garg, a resident of Hisar, claiming that he has been a regular to the Brij Mandal Yatra for the past four years.
Former Gurugram Bar Association president and Hindu organisation leader Kulbhushan Bhardwaj praised the efforts of the district administration under the new regime led by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, saying that the ‘Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb’ (composite culture) was on full display in Nuh during the procession on July 22.
As part of security measures, the district administration had suspended mobile internet and bulk SMS services for 24 hours till 6 p.m. on Monday and deployed drones along the route of the procession, besides holding meetings with the peace committees and appointing duty magistrates in the run-up to the procession.
Nuh Superintendent of Police Vijay Partap said 2,000 security personnel, including five companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Indian Reserve Battalion, were deployed in the district. Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata said around 10,000 devotees took part in the yatra that remained incident-free.
However, the roads and streets around the procession route bore a deserted look with all shops and roadside kiosks remaining shut fearing a repetition of last year’s violence. Shahrukh, a roadside restaurant owner, said the shopkeepers took cue from each other to keep the shutters down. Naseeb, a fruit vendor, said it made sense to suffer a day’s loss of business than risk one’s life and property.
