Women and children seen at a police station in Ballabhgarh yesterday. Over 400 Muslim villagers have taken shelter at the police station fearing retribution if they returned home.
IANS/New Delhi
Riot-hit Muslims in a village in Haryana have demanded “strong action” against a police officer for “abetting the miscreants” belonging to the majority community who attacked them on May 25.
A fact-finding team of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) that visited Atali village on May 27 has stated this in its report. Atali village in Ballabhgarh is located about 9 km from Faridabad in Haryana and a little over 40km from Delhi.
On Monday, Babu Lal was the officer-in-charge of the local police station when a 2,000-strong armed mob attacked Muslims gathered at the site of a mosque under construction for prayers and set fire to houses and shops belonging to them. The officer has since been removed pending an inquiry.
“They especially named the local SHO (station house officer) Babu Lal, who was present at the site, and had been warned about the impending trouble. According to them, he, in fact, sent away some of the personnel who had been deputed to the site and accused him of abetting the perpetrators,” said the NCM report, which will soon be submitted to the home ministry.
The violence continued till Wednesday despite a police order banning public gathering. Over 400 Muslim villagers have taken shelter at the Ballabhgarh police station fearing retribution if they return home.
The mob, armed with axes, swords, spears, country-made pistols, petrol and gas, burnt down the mosque and went on a rampage, torching and looting 17 houses owned by Muslims. The mob also tried to burn a labourer working on the structure and even chopped off his fingers and toes with an axe.
Police said a probe has been ordered.
“We have constituted an SIT (Special Investigation Team) to probe the issue which triggered the riot-like situation here. For precautionary measures, the ban on gathering of people continues in Atali village and its nearby areas,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Bhupinder Singh said.
The prosperous village, with a population of 10,000, has witnessed simmering communal tension over the past two decades. But five years ago, the proposed construction of a mosque brought things to a head. Members of the Jat community managed to get a court stay on the mosque, stating it was a threat to communal harmony in the area. However, a month ago, the construction resumed after the court gave clearance.
“The mosque is being built on Wakf land. They got all the permissions and started building. But they expected trouble and had asked the police for protection,” a member of the NCM panel said.
However, the security provided was simply inadequate to deal with the 2,000-strong mob that attacked the Muslims. “The kind of destruction that took place - houses gutted, shops looted, vehicles burnt, doors, fridges smashed - shows they had a lot of time to go about it. The mob threw gas cylinders on the homes,” said the member.
The member also asked if the local police felt outnumbered why they did not call for more personnel from Faridabad which is just 15 minutes away from Atali.
According to the three-member NCM panel comprising Ajaib Singh, T N Shanoo and Farida Abdulla Khan, the situation was still quite hostile and a number of local residents were unwilling to let the Muslim families return. The main accused in the case got into a direct altercation with the victims in the presence of the NCM panel.
“Even as we left the village and were returning to Delhi, we were informed that another Muslim villager had been attacked by those involved in the earlier riot,” a panel member who did not want to be named said.
The affected villagers also told the NCM team that not only did the police fail to provide them adequate security cover they were also shying away from catching the culprits.
“They have identified and named several of the perpetrators and filed an FIR (First Information Report) but no action has yet been taken on their complaints,” the NCM report, based on their findings on May 27, further states. However, some arrests were reported yesterday.
The NCM panel found the affected Muslim villagers living in a pitiable condition in the open compound of the Ballabhgarh police station, where they have taken shelter fearing further attacks.
“When we reached the Ballabhgarh police station, we found the men, women and children all living in an open compound in this heat without any shelter, food or water. They have been at the police station since Monday evening when they fled their homes. How difficult is it to arrange a shamiana? Later, I was told they have arranged some coolers,” the NCM member said.
