Nuh/Gurgaon: Heavy police presence, intense security checks and an undeclared curfew turned Nuh into a fortress and ensured peace was not disrupted on Monday, when right-wing outfits backed by the VHP had pledged to resume the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra after the previous one on July 31 was disrupted because of a communal clash.
No yatra was allowed on the usual route from Rajiv Chowk in Gurgaon to the Radha Krishna temple in Nuh. Police pickets were set up there and all markets were shut. Roads in the district were deserted as the security bandobast shut out all outsiders. Some of the main organisers were put under “house arrest.” Police, however, permitted a few Nuh residents, a group of seers and the VHP international president to perform jalabhishek at the Nalhar temple on the last Monday of the Shravan month.
The latest call for the yatra had renewed tension in south Haryana, especially after violence that started with the July 31 riots in Nuh and spread to Gurgaon and other nearby districts over the next few days. The Nuh administration denied permission for the yatra that was called on Monday, suspended internet and SMS services and enforced prohibitory orders under Section 144. Duty magistrates were assigned the responsibility of managing security in certain pockets.
Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had also urged residents not to participate in the yatra and instead offer holy water at temples. In Gurgaon and Palwal, key members of outfits who had pledged to bring out the yatra said they were put under house arrest through Sunday and Monday.
Among them were Anurag Kulshresth, the media coordinator for VHP in Haryana. “I wasn’t allowed to leave my house in New Palam Vihar since Sunday evening. Some members were also called for questioning at Bajghera police station.
