Unraveling Haryana's Nuh Violence (Organiser)
In an era characterised by rapid information dissemination and the interconnectedness of global societies, incidents that invoke communal tensions and raise questions about identity, religion, and historical legacies take on a new level of contemporary relevance. The narrative presented here unfolds against the backdrop of a planned attack on Hindu pilgrims, allegedly by armed Muslim residents, shedding light on the complex interplay of factors that shape such incidents in the modern world.
In a time where social media can amplify both truth and misinformation, the role of media in shaping public perception and influencing the course of events becomes increasingly significant. This incident, with its potential to stir communal sentiments, highlights the delicate balance between responsible reporting, sensationalism, and the ethical obligations of media outlets. Furthermore, the narrative offers insight into the ongoing struggle to establish harmony and development within diverse societies. It underscores the importance of addressing historical grievances, economic disparities, and the manipulation of identity by political actors to ensure peaceful coexistence of communities.
Against the backdrop of this incident, this narrative holds a mirror to the challenges societies face in preserving secular values, ensuring equal opportunities for all, and navigating the complexities of cultural and historical narratives in the contemporary world. As people grapple with the repercussions of communal tensions and seek ways to build bridges across diverse communities, the lessons drawn from this account take on an immediate and relevant significance.
Fiction is fascinating, truth is ugly. Storytellers tell stories about how the world should be. Journalists tell us how the world is.
Initial media portrayal and shifting perspectives
Initial reports of the media about a planned attack at the Hindu pilgrims by Muslim residents of Nuh and neighbouring villages, armed to the teeth, shooting from Semi-automatic guns from the surrounding hills giving them high vantage points. The police, accompanying the Brijmandal Jalaabhishek Yatra, was not a match of heavily armed rioters, in numbers and weaponry. This evident act of terror against helpless pilgrims who were forced to hide inside the temple was soon converted into a case of common skirmish between the two communities. It is something like trying to represents WTC attack in America into a scuffle between two communities, namely Muslims and Christians. As a next step, a brief glance was thrown at the Congress MLA from the region, Mamman Khan, issuing threats to one alleged criminal, Mohit Yadav, also known as Monu Manesar, member of a Cow Protection group.
Soon that MLA story was thrown in the background and Monu Manesar was turned into a hashtag. Theories were floated by prominent news channels how Monu Manesar’s Social Media message asking pilgrims to join the Yatra was a justifiable reason for the majority Muslim community in the area to get themselves armed to teeth and attack the Hindu pilgrims. Stray stories of some Muslims who saved the Hindus trying to escape the violence perpetrated by their Muslim brothers were floated, predictably to ensure that common man closes his eyes to the dangers of communal politics which still lingers on in this country even decades after a bloody partition to create a separate Muslim nation.
Historical context: Meo region’s evolution
Here are the facts of the case and to get a broader perspective, a peek into the history of Meo region. When Babur attacked Afghan and invaded Hindustan, he sought assistance from Rana Sanga against the Lodi Sultans. A theory is often floated that it was Rana Sanga who sought assistance from Babur. However, all that Baburnama mentions and letters of Rana Sanga in the diary entry from Mewar ka Sankshipt Itihas (short History of Mewar) establishes is that Babur wrote to Rana seeking his assistance which did not come and disappointed Babur. The fact that Rana would seek assistance from a foreigner of uncertain credential to fight the Afghans when he himself had captured commanders like Sultan Mahmood in the battle of Gagron and one Prince of Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Khatauli, does not stand to reason. In any case, this breaking of trust between the two will lead to the Battle of Khanwa, which happened in the land of Mewat.
To motivate the Mughal soldiers, scared to battle with the Rajputs, Babur, an alcoholic took oath on 25th of February, 1527 to give up Alcohol as a good Muslim. The aim was to turn the political battle into religious one. The rajputs lost Khanwa to the Mughals. After a bitter loss in the battle of Bayana, this was a great relief to the Mughals, and paved way for establishing a formal Islamic rule in India. The Hindu bulwark in the north, with glorious eighty war injuries on him, fell with this defeat. A humiliated Rana swore never to retun to Chittor until he had routed Babur from Delhi, and died in Kalpi in January 1528, one year later.
In the battle of Khanwa, Meos, under Khanzada Rajputs fought on behalf of Afghans, as part of Rajput Confederates against the Mughals. Raja Nahar Khan who was the leader of Meos in the battle, was a Yaduvanshi Rajput, originally named as Raja Sonpar Pal. Meos were among the first Indian communities to convert to Islam. The Khanjadas started this when the converted to Islam when under the service of Firoz Shah Tuglaq in 1359. Nahar Khan aligned with Timur, much famous for his cruel invasion of Delhi in which hundreds of thousands were put to death, and was declared Wali-i-Mewat. After him, his son Raja Bahadur Khan succeeded him. Raja Hasan Khan Mewati was a part of Rajput-Afghan confederacy which fought the battle of Khanwa against Babur and died in the battle.
Meos worship Sayed Salar Masood who was nothing but a warrior with Sultan Mahmud Ghazni as a soldier who arrived in India in 1033AD with primary goal of converting people forcefully to Islam. He died in Bahraich in a battle with a Hindu king Raja Suhel Dev while attempting to demolish a Sun temple there in 1034 AD (Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh, Vol. I). What is intriguing is that his Mazar was erected there, he was proclaimed Ghazi Baba and his grave has more Hindu visitors than Muslims. Fanaticism and story-telling often diminishes the sense of history for the people.
From conversion to identity: Meo’s religious transformation
Meo conversion to Islam was slow, unorganised and confused, mostly driven by Sufis of different sects. In practice, for long they remained Hindus and were Muslims only in name sake. Muslim Meo women will pray to Shitla Mata for the health of their kids, as per the British sources, Meo men hardly could read Quran and offer Namaz properly. This would change much later, in late 19th century. A man named Muhammad Iliyas was born in 1886 in Muzaffar Nagar of Uttar Pradesh who grows up and goes for Hajj in 1925. Muhammad Iliyas was son of a rich landlord, named Muhammad Ismail. He moved to Delhi and set up his base in Basti Nizamuddin which became the base of a new movement.
As the story goes, Ismail saw few Meo labourers crossing his seminary, looking like Hindus in their manners and appearances. He paid them the amount of Two Annas a day that they expected to earn through the work they were looking for in the period of famine for praying at his mosque. Meos facing extreme poverty started sending their kids to the Madarasa of Maulana Ismail as he would pay them for travel and food. Ismail died in 1898, and by the time Muhammad Iliyas took over, in 1917, they had deep inroads into Mewat. Iliyas had studied at Deoband and had sworn to Jihad. Starting from Ferozpur Namak in Nuh, Iliyas set up soon around 100 schools for Islamic Studies, meant to enforce a hard-coded, puritan Islam.
Having seen the first Meo graduate from his school in Mewat, who turned up all trained in Islamic scripture- a young man with thick Moustache and no beard, wearing a Dhoti- story goes that Iliyas sat down holding his head in pain. This incident prompted him to aggressively promote Muslim identity signs in terms of clothes and appearance among the Meos. He was much alarmed by Shuddhi movement led by Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya which brought back Malkana Muslims in huge numbers back into Hindu fold. Tabligh worked with Meos to radicalise them and create an identity for the Meo Muslims, distinct and distant from their cultural history and the Hindu Meos. Till the time Tabligi appeared on the scene, Meos were what Savarkar would have called Hindus of Islamic faith, as Muslim Meos would pray to Jwala Devi before going for a battle. Once their connection with Arab was established and the distinctions were drawn, things never remained same.
Contemporary challenges: Development disparities and communal strains
In 1932, a major riot was reported in the region after Hindu Dalits took out a procession to establish Ganga idols in a new temple and it was attacked. In January 1933, Hindus were driven out of Mewat. On January 10, 1933, the British Army entered Mewat the crush the riotous uprising. In 1933, April, another riot between Hindu Ahirs and Meo Muslims was noticed. How far the Tabligh has travelled in building walls of separation from the world they operate in was much visible during the COVID pandemic, where unconcerned with the impact large gatherings might have on the spread of the virus, they continued with their missionary activities not only in India but in many other countries. Tabligh has been banned in many countries like Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran on account of their direct and indirect links with terror activities.
During Partition violence, the Muslim Meos first demanded Meostan, a Muslim nation. However, Mewat being a small island of Muslim-majority area held among the strong Hindu-majority population, it received lukewarm support from the Muslim league. In May 1946 (Towards Freedom, ICHR), first riots broke in Mewat on the rumours of a Hindu boy being stabbed to death in Rewari. The Meos were moved to Delhi and it was planned to move them to Pakistan. On the 5th of September, 1947, Dr. Rajendra Prasad wrote to Sardar Patel about Meo mobs coming out to riot in Karolbag, and asked him to move them to Muslim-majority area until such time that their transfer to Pakistan is effected. Some 80000 Meos were transferred to Pakistan but then in December, Gandhi ji intervened and asked Meos to stay back in India. Maulana Azad was the first MP elected from Mewat and the place since has been safe seat for Muslim Congress candidates.
Mewat since then turned into a dual-character society, with one part of it stuck in 7th century Arabia another part moving ahead. The adherence to the most regressive form of Islam which has been rejected even in the birthplace of Islam has resulted in a situation that the district right next to Gurugram, a metropolitical successful city, has remained a dark spot in almost all development indices. The Muslim politicians of Congress and AAP (they have been named as masterminds behind the riots by local police) have encouraged this lack of development which helps them create a support base and vote bank of religious fanatics who would vote for them in the name of Islam and would act like expendable foot soldiers in the times of violence.
As per Niti Ayog’s 2018 report, Nuh stands lowest in all development indices in the list of 101 most-backward aspirational districts. 79 per cent of population of Nuh is Muslim and Hindus are a minority of around 20 percent. The religious demographic skew grew over the years, from 62 per cent Muslims in 1971 to current almost 80 per cent Muslim population (Centre for Policy Studies). In Ferozepur Zirka and Punahana Sub-district the Muslim population touches more than 84 percent of the total population. While in terms of population at younger slabs among Muslims is much higher than Hindus, which indicates the trend that this demographic skew is going to increase even further.
Cow Slaughter, crime, and unveiling socioeconomic dualism
Mewat has turned into a crime hub focused on cybercrime and illegal cow slaughter business. The rootlessness which comes from negating their own cultural history in a zeal to connect themselves to a foreign culture has caused havoc on the region similar to that in Pakistan. The literacy rate of Mewat is 56.1%, lowest in Haryana. The criminalisation of the region is not a new thing. The accused in Dhaula Kuan Rape case of 2010 came from Mewat. As per a Hindustan Times report from 2016, the criminal developments in the region is not new. In 2016, out of 1,62,000 students registered only 48000 reached class 8th and only 12000 passed class 12th. This district has a population of One Million. In 2014, one Al-Qaida operative Abdul Sami was arrested from Mewat. Two local imams, Mohammad Shahid and Qari Rashid were arrested before that. In April this year, a hundred-strong police team raided Nuh and arrested 65 people in cybercrime. The police recovered 166 fake Adhar Cards, 128 ATM cards, 99 SIM cards and 66 Mobile phones in these cases. A report from HT, in 2016, mentions how Mewat has also been a hub for illegal cow smuggling. In September 2016, 22 cattle were rescued from oil tanker. On August 29th, 300 cow hides were caught hidden in boxes of guavas going from Gurugram to Mewat.
Cow slaughter has been a contentious issue between the two communities since Mughal period. No amount of empty utterances of Ganga-Jamuni culture of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood spoken perfunctorily after every violent clash by the Muslims has been able to resist the taste buds of those who eat beef merely to rub the hindu noses in dust. Cow slaughter has been banned in many state by Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in line with the dreams and desires of Mahatma Gandhi who protected the Meos and even rehabilitated them after a bloody partition. While there has been a tendency to blame it on Narendra Modi government which came to power in 2014, there have been violent action from the side of cow smugglers on cow-protection teams who usually work with the Local Police and on the Police itself. In 2016 a cop , Raj Singh, was crushed to death by cow smuggler. Khalid from Ghasera village was arrested in the case. In 2017, one Taleem from Nuh was killed in an encounter by Alwar Police when he was caught carrying cows without papers and tried to run over the cops, in Rajasthan (Rajasthan is under Congress rule). In July, 2017, another gang of cow smugglers attacked the Police team and injured two when they went to arrest them.
Unraveling the Nuh Violence: Monu Manesar and media’s Role
Monu Manesar whose video was seen asking people to join the Yatra in large numbers, is one from the Cow protection group. His name came up in the murder of two Muslim men, who carried award from the police on the charges of Cow smuggling. Local Muslims have claimed and the media has latched on to the claims that the young muslim lads were tempted to attack a procession of Hindu pilgrims on 1st of August, 2023 which led to 5 Hindus dead in the terror attack with stones, sticks and even, as per reports, automatics fired from the hilltops surrounding Hindu temple in which around two thousand Hindu men, women and children had to take shelter, because Monu Manesar released a video asking people to join the procession in large numbers. The police team and paramilitary had to be air-dropped in this fanatic den of islamists to rescue the people. One Muslim man died in retaliatory violence in Gurugram outskirts. The mainstream media found the image of a Muslim shopkeeper whose shop was vandalised in retaliatory violence. This image has been made the theme of mainstream media reports, while the dreadful killing of Hindus like Abhishek who was first shot and then beheaded and had his head smashed, has been pushed away from public view and public memory.
The spark, mob justice, and the quest for balanced narratives
Monu Manesar, or Mohit Yadav, is a member of Cow-protection groups. These groups have been on target of Cow Smuggling groups which have been involved in cow-slaughter. He has been named by Rajasthan Police in the murder of two men, Junaid and Nassir, two alleged cow-smugglers whose bodies were found in Bhiwani on February 16, 2023. He was named as suspect on the basis of charges made by the families of Junaid and Nasir along with 20 others. Post-investigations, Rajasthan police filed the chargesheet against three – Narendra Kumar, Gigi and Rinku Saini on May 16, 2023. All three have been arrested. Investigations against other 27 people including Monu Manesar continues. The Government has promised a compensation of 15 Lakhs to the families of both Nasir and Junaid. Junaid had five cases of cow-smuggling against him in various police stations according to Police sources. Rajasthan Police had raided the house of one of the accused, Srikant Pandit on February 17, and allegedly manhandled his mother, Dulari Devi, who also filed complaint of her harassment of her daughter-in-law, resulting in her miscarriage. Media largely dismissed these charges going by the Rajasthan Police version. However, the lady was admitted to the hospital immediately after the visit of Rajasthan police to their home and miscarriage is on record. The charges made by the family can be as true or as untrue as those made by the families of Junaid and Nasir. In the case of former, Rajasthan Police has on record confirmed visiting the house of Srikant and the Hospital has confirmed the miscarriage.
As a citizen of India, even a convicted, corrupt politician in India has not been denied of best of international medical facilities, the Naxals with established terror links have been given bail recently, even an ISIS recruit coming back to India was released by the court with the statement- every sinner has a future. To deny a person, who has been charged but not yet been charge-sheeted by the police, a religious right to make pilgrimage to temples right next door to his place of residence does not seem right. For a belligerent Muslim majority in the region to threaten a religious hindu procession with violence in the event of that one person, yet not convicted by any court, turning up is brazen example of mob justice, which media is trying to prove as a just cause of provocation. Such mobocracy is not good for any secular democracy and people are getting tired as you shed tears for a vandalised pillow shop in reactionary violence, while ignore heartlessly, the brutal killing of five men in the attack of Islamic mobs. Two cow smugglers were found dead and burned. Their families made charge against cow protection, the man whose name media has caught up as responsible for riots, was not in Nuh when the violence broke. Muslim side made varied claims for the violence, one was that Monu Manesar made a video claiming he will visit the temple. The violence which started with attack on Hindu pilgrims, leaving five Hindus dead, left a muslim man in Gurugram dead in retaliatory violence. These are the facts of the case. All else is bunkum. They did not explain by what law he is prohibited from visiting that area. Other claims are usual like chanting of Hindu slogans which is used as a justification of violence by Muslims against Hindu pilgrims. On the secularist mobs, wanting Hindus to walk on egg-shells even after a blood-stained partition to create a Muslim-only nation out of India, I would quote Christopher Hitchens, who had splendidly put this when he said –
“Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.”
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