Hundreds of Muslim migrant laborers have left Gurugram, India this week after communal violence between a group of young men and Vishwa Hindu Parishad workers. The violence has extended to neighboring locations, killing six people and arresting many more. Muslim workers have been harassed and threatened, prompting many to quit the city or seek refuge with family members. The absence of Muslim labor has had an impact on shops, factories, and residential complexes. The crisis has forced authorities to take swift steps to maintain law and order.
Shamim Hussain, a 35 years old migrant worker from Malda in West Bengal, was instructed by his landlord to collect his belongings and leave his rented room in Badshahpur on Thursday. Hussain is one of hundreds of Muslim migrant workers who have left the city this week as a result of racial skirmishes that broke out on Monday in Nuh during a religious procession between a group of young men and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers.Hussain called his wife, who was working as a housekeeper in a nearby residential complex, and begged her to return home right away. Migrant’s exit a slum in Gurugram’s Division 70A on Thursday, days after communal viciousness ejected in Haryana, slaughtering six individuals.
“I’ve asked her to collect her salary from her employer, and we’re not going back to this town. The last couple of days, people have been threatening us. He said, standing next to his packed goods, we had to stop sending our children out to play in the open, fearing an attack”. A relative from Delhi came to take them with him a short time later.
According to the Haryana government, six people have been killed in the violence so far, 116 arrested, 90 detained and 44 FIRs registered in clashes that have spread to Gurugram, Rajasthan’s Bhiwani and even Delhi. A lot of migrants took shelter at relatives’ homes while some were still in the city. They claimed they were targeted because they are Muslims and are responsible for a local clash reported in Nuh on Monday.
Many residents said Thursday that their Muslim domestic helpers, car cleaners, cooks, security guards and drivers did not show up for work after locals threatened them to leave the area.The situation wasn’t the same at several factories, salons or stores in shopping malls, said district officials.
The violence-affected areas in the city include Tigra, Wazirabad, Tigaon, Badshahpur, Sector 70A, Sector 57, Sector 56, Dundahera, Palam Vihar, Manesar, Teekli, Kasan, IMT and Ghata village where the migrant workers left. A group of 20 residents from Palda village allegedly threatened to light their huts on fire if they didn’t leave by Friday, according to Jabbar Ali, a resident of the Sector 70A slums. In a city where we have labored for so long, what about our safety? The police and government offer no assistance. People are mistreating us; shops have ceased giving us meals; and idly visiting strangers are attacking us at night. Packing his bags, he added, “It’s hard to endure this type of humiliation.
The RWA had to hire approximately 30 people on Thursday at Paras Irene in sector 70 A as an emergency measure when most of the staff were laid off. On Wednesday, there was no maintenance work to take place and it has had an impact on the operations today. We’ve been hiring new people to do the maintenance,” said Jaswant Rao, Chairman of Paras Irene Regional Water and Sewerage Authority.
The district administration has announced that on Wednesday, a meeting of several neighborhood watch groups was called to reassure the citizens about steps being taken to prevent frequent violent incidents.
On Thursday, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner NK Yadav told reporters that they had sent seven sub divisional magistrates to the field and were asking them to meet migrants. We’ve also warned the landlords and local communities not to threaten workers or help them, but stern action will follow if they do. We have asked migrants to dial 112 or the mobile numbers of SDMs who have been distributed in their localities in case of an emergency or for any other assistance,” he said.
Yadav is saying that in a day or two things will be better. We’ve also met the Muslim community in order to ensure that Friday sermons are carried out at peace, so we have given them appropriate security for all mosques,” he added.
In order to ensure law and order in the region, Gurugram commissioner of police Kala Ramachandran told us that Palda villagers had lodged a complaint about an assault on August 1, which was taken care of by 100 policemen. We’ll be keeping a close watch on all activities that are going on around town. “We’ve instructed all the station chief officers to take stern action against anyone who resorts to violence or threats”, she said.
According to Ramachandran, some 20-25 individuals from Palda village went to the slums on Tuesday and threatened people to leave.Although the police did not receive any complaints on this, they were notified by one of their neighbors from a neighboring society and dispatched almost 100 people immediately to protect his slum that has about 700 to 800 shacks. No one has come out of here yet,” she replied.
One case was filed at the Badshahpur police station in connection with an assault case in which a guy was assaulted by 4-5 persons as he returned from work. On Tuesday, police claimed they had registered another case for setting fire to a slum in the same region.
