Nuh Violence Toll Rises To 6, Protest Rallies In Delhi

Supreme Court says rallies can go ahead but there should be no hate speeches; more shops burnt in sporadic clashes

Remnants of communal violence that tore through Nuh and Gurugram echoed in Delhi on Wednesday as right-wing groups took out rallies and held protests at 23 spots in the city, even as simmering tensions on the fringes of the Capital boiled over in Kherki Daula village, where a shop owned by a Muslim man was set ablaze.

The rallies and protests — which were held across the city, including the crucial Mathura Road and Vikas Marg, as well as parts of northeast Delhi — came hours after the Supreme Court allowed the events to go ahead but with the rider that no hate speech be made. But that condition was breached in at least one neighbourhood — south Delhi’s RK Puram — according to videos that emerged online.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) — one of the groups that organised the religious procession that was attacked in Nuh on Monday — in a statement on Wednesday evening said it will not solely “depend on the government for the safety of Hindus”, will “respond to the attacks” and that the “outcomes of that (self-defence) will not be our responsibility”.

Meanwhile, the toll from the violence climbed to six, as a Bajrang Dal worker, who was injured in Nuh on Monday succumbed to injuries on Wednesday.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, during a press briefing, reiterated that his government was working to identify the perpetrators of the communal clashes that have kept Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) on edge for three days now.

The state's home minister Anil Vij told HT that Monday's violence in Nuh was orchestrated.