Following deadly communal riots that expanded to Gurugram, a city not far from the nation’s capital, New Delhi, Indian authorities on Tuesday imposed a curfew, shut down the internet, and sent thousands of paramilitary police to some areas of the northern Haryana state.
Hindus and Muslims engaged in physical battles during a Hindu nationalist group’s religious procession in Haryana’s Nuh district on Monday afternoon, according to the Press Trust of India news agency as cited by Associated Press. The conflicts resulted in the deaths of at least four persons, including two police officers.
According to a police statement, the violence resulted in the injuries of more than 20 police officers and the burning of numerous cars.
Later, tensions spread to Gurugram, about 30 km (19 mi) from New Delhi, when rioters set a mosque on fire and murdered a Muslim cleric late Monday night. Some attackers, according to the police, have been detained.
On Tuesday, there were no new reports of violence from either location, but police said they had ordered schools and institutions to remain closed out of an abundance of caution.
On Tuesday, fear-stricken citizens stayed inside as police carrying batons marched through streets of Nuh littered with stones and burned-out cars in the locations of the clashes.
“A sizable mob vandalized homes, cars, and hand carts. I stayed inside to protect my family,” said a local man who only went by his first name, Mahendra.
Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, denounced the violence in Nuh in a post on the social networking website X, formerly known as Twitter.
At all costs, the guilty will not be spared. They will face the harshest punishment possible, he said.
Anil Vij, the state’s home minister, claimed the clashes were “engineered” and said police will look into them.
Communal violence has occasionally broken out in India since the British divided the subcontinent in 1947, but observers claim that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, religious polarization has increased, further exposing fault lines against minorities and escalating tensions.
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