Nuh 'shobha yatra' passes off peacefully amid tight security

A controversial yatra in Haryana’s strife-torn Nuh district passed off peacefully on Monday after the police clamped prohibitory orders across the region and allowed only a group of 51 people to enter a temple to complete Hindu rituals

- Leena Dhankhar

Police said 3,000 personnel were deployed, barricades erected every 500 metres, and 100 checkpoints built to stave off the possibility of a re-run of July 31, when the Braj Mandal Jal Abhishek Yatra, also called a Shobha Yatra, triggered communal clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups, killing six people and injuring another 88 in violence that spanned two days and singed the fringes of the Capital.

Police said that it didn’t stop around 3,000 individuals from offering prayers at Nalhar temple — located in the heart of the Muslim-majority district — but the only group allowed inside was that of 51 people, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) international working president Alok Kumar. Police had escorted them till the temple and they were under police surveillance throughout their journey.