Nuh still tense, yet saffron outfit to resume yatra!

NT Correspondent

Gurugram/Palwal: Pro-Hindutva activists do not seem to have learnt any lesson from the searing violence in Nuh, Haryana after a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) padayatra in July, which has so far left six people dead, countless injured and has also led to huge damage to property.

The minority community was the worst affected by the violence with hundreds of migrant workers fleeing the strife-torn state in its aftermath triggering nationwide indignation.

On Sunday, a 'mahapanchayat' by Hindu outfits at Pondri village in Haryana's Palwal announced that they will "resume" on August 28 the VHP's Braj Mandal Yatra in Nuh that was disrupted after the July communal violence.

At the 'Sarva Jatiye Mahapanchayat', participants from Palwal, Gurugram and other nearby places took part, and it was decided that the yatra will resume from Nalhar in Nuh and then pass through Firozpur Jhirka's Jhir and Singar temples in the district.

In Nuh, four battalions of central forces should be deployed permanently, VHP leader from Gurugram Devender Singh said, giving details of the decisions taken at the mahapanchayat.

The mahapanchayat was originally planned to be held in Nuh district's Kira village but permission was denied for it in view of the prevailing law and order situation.

Permission for the event was given in Palwal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (headquarters), Palwal, Sandeep Mor said on Sunday. Palwal and Nuh are adjoining districts.

The mahapanchayat was held under the banner of 'Sarv Hindu Samaj', in which Hindu outfits including the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) took part.

Police however said permission for a limited gathering has been allowed and strict action will be taken if anyone makes any kind of hate speech. Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, died in the communal clashes that erupted in Nuh when the VHP procession was attacked by a mob on July 31.

Haryana goes to Assembly polls in October-November next year and apprehensions have been raised that saffron outfits are deliberately trying to whip up communal tension and fracture the electorate ahead of the polls.