A SCRIPT CATCHES FIRE

HARYANA COMMUNAL CLASHES

- Anilesh S. Mahajan

Taunts via videos gone viral on the social media. Counter-taunts by those picking up the gauntlet. Rumour, suspicion, word of mouth and buzzing message platforms blending into each other and raising temperatures all around. And the logical culmination: armed stormtroopers within a religious procession, a concerted attack by local vigilantes equipped with an array of munitions, widespread arson and retaliation. The events, spread out over two days in the vicinity of national capital New Delhi, brought life to a standstill in south Haryana, along with neighbouring districts in eastern Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.

Even before the cops could rein in the rampaging mob in Nuh, where the violence began during a religious procession organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on July 31, communal clashes had spread to Gurugram, where rioters burnt a mosque and killed a cleric, leaving another person severely injured, the same night. The toll till now: six people dead, including two home guards, over 100 injured, several private and patrol vehicles gutted, as also a string of commercial and residential properties.