Terror in Haryana

The violence in Gujarat has its echo in some Haryana districts that have no recent history of communal tensions.

IN the wake of the communal carnage in Gujarat, trouble erupted in some other States as well, though on a smaller scale. Property and lives of people of a particular community were targeted. Some of the worst forms of sectarian violence were witnessed in Kaithal and Loharu in Haryana.

On March 16, in Loharu subdivision of Bhiwani district, the property and businesses of the minority Muslim community became targets of attack. No lives were lost, but it was clear that the communal genie had been released for the first time in Loharu town. Cases of vandalism aimed at dargahs (tombs) and mosques were reported from Kaithal in Kurukshetra district in early March. It is widely thought that the violence in Loharu could have been avoided had the Om Prakash Chautala government in the State remained vigilant. Violence could be contained in places where the district administration took pre-emptive measures.

The incidents are seen as the outcome of the worsening communal atmosphere in the State. In Loharu, the homes and other properties of 70 Muslim families were torched. More than 270 women and children either fled to Rajasthan or took refuge in friendly Hindu households. The fear was so palpable that the victims were reluctant even to talk about the events.

It was on the night of March 16 that the orchestrated campaign began, though communal tension had built up by March 1 when the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) announced a Bharat bandh following the Godhra incident. On March 1, a group of men led by two district-level BJP leaders forcibly entered a mosque near the Loharu railway station, after pelting stones at it. They made inflammatory speeches inside the mosque, abused the Imam, Maulana Aziz Alam, and shouted slogans such as "Hindu Ekta Zindabad". The administration dispersed the miscreants.

Meanwhile, vandalism was reported in Kaithal and the police were posted near places of worship almost all over the State. The message was clear - that if it could happen in Kaithal, known for its Sufi dargahs and composite culture, it could happen anywhere. In Rohtak, a vigilant Assistant Deputy Commissioner thwarted communal elements. Gurgaon and Panipat, which have substantial Muslim populations, did not witness any trouble.

But the tranquillity of Kaithal and Kalayat was shaken by communal violence on bandh day. After all, the Sufi movement had a lasting impact in the region, especially in Hansi, Hisar, Panipat, Narnaul, Jhajjar and Kaithal. The less than hundred Muslim families in Kaithal were caught unawares. For nearly five hours, attacks on mosques and dargahs went on.

Until March 15, almost all religious places in Haryana, especially those of the minorities, were given some form of state protection. March 15 was significant as the VHP had planned its symbolic yagna in Ayodhya that day. It was therefore not surprising that with the lifting of security around mosques, communal elements got to work. The following night the police station at Loharu received an anonymous telephone call, which said that a calf had been slaughtered near the Jama Masjid. The District Magistrate, the Superintendent of Police and others arrived at the spot to find that no such incident had taken place. However, the police, acting on the advice of some local leaders, took into custody two young men, Majid and Imran, who lived on the masjid premises. According to Majid, a calf had entered the courtyard of his dwelling and all he had done was to drive it away. Soon, a systematic campaign of rumours of cow slaughter began. On March 31, the day this correspondent visited Loharu, there were rumours of a cow with one ear and no tail, roaming around. But nobody had actually seen it.

As the rumours spread, several Muslim families fled to Pilani and Jhnujhunu districts in Rajasthan. Those who stayed back hid in the houses of compassionate Hindu neighbours. In each case where beleaguered Muslim families were given shelter, the women of the Hindu household took particular care of their guests.

On the morning of March 17, the majority community mobilised people near the railway station, a good number of them from Loharu itself. People had been brought from the Tosham, Digava and Charkhi Dadri areas too. Arson began around the area and spread to the town. The first casualty was the mosque near the station; its domes and minarets were smashed. Four godowns storing clothes and bangles were burnt. The mob then set on fire five shops in the market. The objective, it seemed, was not merely to loot but to break the economic backbone of the minority community.

Vinay Kumar, who runs the Sharma Medical Store in the Station Road area, is unable to understand why two shops on either side of his shop were burnt. "We never came across any instance of cow slaughter. It all seems to be a rumour. We had good relations. They did not loot but only destroyed the property. It looks like it was planned," he said.

Within the city, the imposing Jama Masjid became the target. One of its domes was damaged badly, and attempts were made to set the 133-year-old masjid afire. The room in which the two young men accused of cow slaughter lived was virtually razed to the ground. (The blackened walls, the remains of a ceiling fan and some furniture bore testimony to the violence when this correspondent visited the area. The dome of the masjid had been repaired to an extent.) The mob then turned its attention to shops and homes located on the rest of the land owned by the Waqf Board, which measures 500 square feet.

The mob first set on fire the shop and home of an ironsmith, whose wife and children took refuge in the neighbour's house. Other neighbours also came to help. Twenty persons, mostly women and children, were kept hidden in a room, while the women of the household stood guard with staffs. Seventy-year-old Lakshmi told Frontline that her family was later threatened by the mob but she was not afraid. "I will do it again if need be," she said. She said she made several attempts to call the police but no help came. "Even the fire engines that came did not have water. We helped douse the flames," she said.

The mob, armed with rods and other tools, looted Muslim shops, then moved to interior areas, and systematically burnt the houses of Muslims. One such house was that of Naseema Begum. Mattresses, pots and pans lay strewn in her courtyard. Naseema, who had gone to mourn a relative's death, had left her little children behind. Some good neighbours stepped in to take the children to safety while the house burnt. Seventeen children from four Muslim families were given shelter in Hindu homes. The arson continued until 4 p.m., but the police stayed away. Station House Officer (SHO) Raghubir Singh was later transferred out of Loharu, following protests from independent groups.

"I have lived here since I was one and a half years old," says a 50-year-old Muslim whose house and shop were burnt. Sensing that something was wrong, on March 17 Shamim went to the SHO to apprise him of the developments. He alleges that he was told either to live there peacefully or to get out of Loharu with his belongings.

THE Muslim community has been very much a part of Loharu for centuries. Never had they faced such a crisis. There is a fort here named after the former Nawab of Loharu. The Nawab is a symbol of respect and therefore it is difficult to believe that other residents of Loharu could actually turn against their Muslim neighbours. But reliable sources said that communally flavoured graffiti, slogans and rumours had appeared in the past few years. Outfits such as the Bajrang Dal, the VHP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) had also grown in strength in and around Loharu.

For some years now, the RSS and its fraternal organisations have been active in Kaithal too. Despite the build-up of a communal atmosphere in these areas, the administration failed to take pre-emptive measures. A team of the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) that went to Kaithal on March 2 learnt that on February 28, a day after the Godhra incident, inflammatory speeches had been made by leaders of the RSS, the VHP, the Sanskar Bharati and the Shiv Sena. This, along with incendiary graffiti, had terrorised the local Muslim community.

Members of the majority community, especially men, were reluctant to talk about the events of March 16. Twenty-one persons had been arrested including the two BJP leaders. "What happened was wrong but the arrests were also unfair. There is still a cow roaming around with its one ear and tail missing," said Susheel, a self-designated spokesperson of his community.

On March 18, a bandh was called to protest against the arrests, and the Indian National Lok Dal government was accused of being partisan in the handling of events that day. Soon, several BJP leaders descended on Loharu. Senior BJP leader and former Minister Ram Vilas Sharma was present at a meeting in the station road area on March 30. The Imam of the Station Road mosque, who was passing by, was stopped and pressured by Ram Vilas Sharma and others into withdrawing a complaint he had made. They wanted him to sign on a document stating that the two BJP leaders who had been arrested were innocent but the Maulana politely refused. The two BJP leaders who led the attack on the masjid on March 1 were allegedly part of the March 17 carnage too.

While political parties in the State have hardly responded to the events, several other organisations have visited Loharu. Members of the Sarva Karmachari Sangh (employees' union), the Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti, AIDWA and the Democratic Youth Federation of India have assured help to the victims and demanded action against the perpetrators of the violence. A five-member team of the State committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) visited Loharu and met senior officials. It demanded that the government provide just compensation and fair rehabilitation for the victims. A five-member team of the Rashtriya Ekta Abhiyan (National Solidarity Campaign), led by the historian Professor Suraj Bhan, which visited Loharu on March 21, demanded a judicial inquiry. It observed that even though tension had been building up in the town in the aftermath of the communal flare-up in Gujarat, the administration failed to take appropriate measures to defuse it.

The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, R.S. Verma, told Frontline that the events of March 17 were "painful" and that normalcy was returning to the area. The March 1 incident, he said, appeared to be an expression of the resentment over Godhra. "I was there. There was a lot of slogan shouting, but it was mostly done by ignorant youngsters who wanted all the Muslim textile shops to go. That day, similar incidents had occurred at Kaithal as well," he said. "You can say the mob was Hinduwadi," he added. Verma said that the police were unable to do anything initially as they were outnumbered by the more than 2,000-strong mob which began pelting stones. However, the argument that reinforcements could not be mobilised at short notice did not convince the victims. When asked why some 10 persons involved in the arson were roaming around freely, the SDM said that Shashi Chhabra, one of the main accused, would be arrested soon. Regarding payment of compensation to the victims, the SDM said: "Why don't the people get the help of non-governmental organisations? They have lots of funds."

The local population denies that it had any role in the arson but the victims think otherwise. The singling out of Muslim shops and dwellings is evidence of local participation, they say. Pressure is being exerted on the victims to withdraw their complaints.

Chief Minister Chautala reacted in strong terms to the incidents at Loharu and Kaithal. At a press conference in Rewari on April 2, he said that those who had indulged in acts of arson and desecration were a blot on the "fair name of Haryana which had been free from communal tension and disharmony". He has set aside Rs.10 lakhs from the Chief Minister's Fund for the payment of compensation, but the amount may be too small to meet the needs of the victims of the violence. But more than anything else, what the administration should help regain is the trust that has been broken.