A general view of Gurugram, located on the outskirts of New Delhi [File: Parivartan Sharma/Reuters]
Metropolis Desk-
Hours after deadly communal riots in a nearby region, a mob of far-right Hindus set fire to and opened fire on a mosque in a New Delhi suburb, killing a deputy imam.
The victim has been identified by the police as Maulana Saad, a 19-year-old imam of the Anjuman Jama mosque in Gurugram’s Sector 57, a 1.2 million-person metropolis famous for its gleaming towers and offices of multinational firms. Maulana Saad was the imam of the mosque and oversaw the morning prayers.
There were three other people there; one of them sustained an injury, while the other two were unscathed.
A day after unrest in the nearby Nuh district in northern Haryana state, a mob attacked the mosque early on Tuesday.
In the early hours of Tuesday, “a group of 50 to 60 miscreants resorted to shooting and setting fire at Anjum, which resulted in the death of one person and injury of another,” deputy commissioner of Police Nitish Agarwal told reporters.
Agarwal continued, “We have detained a few individuals, filed a police case against them, and have commenced an inquiry into the matter.
Gurugram, however, remained tense throughout the day as crowds prowled the streets, torching junkyards and vandalizing several small restaurants, the majority of which belonged to Muslims.
In Gurugram, which is located in the state of Haryana, far-right Hindu organizations opposed to Friday prayers have been actively lobbying. One of the few locations officially recognized for holding prayers was the Anjuman mosque.
Following violent battles between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Nuh, where a curfew was imposed, the tragedy occurred.
In the battles in Nuh district, at least four people were murdered, including two police officers.
When a Hindu holy procession moved through the area with a high concentration of Muslims, violence broke out.
“The procession was meant to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way, which resulted in the death of four people,” Krishan Kumar, a Nuh police spokeswoman, told Reuters news agency.
Two of the dead, according to him, were home guard volunteers who aid police in quelling public disturbances.
He stated that the clashes also resulted in 10 more police officers being hurt.
The state administration sought more forces to help contain the situation after several cars were set on fire and stones were thrown at the police, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
To disperse the throng, the police fired rounds into the air and sprayed tear gas. Internet access has been cut off in the area, and public gatherings have been outlawed.
“Today’s incident is unfortunate. I appeal to all the people to maintain peace in the state. The guilty will not be spared at any cost. Strictest action will be taken against them,” said Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on X, the social media platform earlier known as Twitter.
“Regaining control of the situation is our first goal. We are pleading with everyone to keep the peace. Anil Vij, the state’s interior minister, stated, “We are also attempting to send forces by helicopter.
A railway security guard was detained earlier on Monday after he allegedly killed a coworker and three other passengers on a train in what appeared to be a hate crime. However, according to the authorities, Chetan Singh, the suspect, had mental health problems.
Singh could be seen holding his rifle in one hand while standing near a person covered in blood in one of the films that were widely circulated on X.
In one of the tapes that Al Jazeera authenticated, he was heard saying, “If you want to live and vote in Hindustan [India], I am telling you, it’s only Modi and Yogi,” alluding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath.
Muslim men were found to be two of the passengers who were killed by gunfire.
A leading member of the opposition Indian National Congress party, Jairam Ramesh, referred to the fatal shooting as “cold-blooded murders” while condemning it on social media.
“The genie of hate is now out of the bottle and it will take a lot of collective effort to put it back in,” Ramesh wrote in a tweet.
He accused Modi’s BJP of being to blame for “hate and violence” and claimed its top officials were “complicit in harming the social fabric of India.”
Source- Al Jazeera
