Hindu organizations held a mahapanchayat in Manesar two weeks ago. In this there was a demand for boycott and verification of Muslim families. Out of fear, Muslim families have left the slums.

A demand for boycott of Muslim shopkeepers and verification of their photo ID was raised in a panchayat of Hindu organizations in Manesar, Haryana. Two weeks later, Muslims living in 60-70 huts of Sector 1 have left. Neighbors say that the Muslim families living in these huts who used to live behind IMT Manesar have gone somewhere overnight due to fear.

The cluster of huts in the Bengali market was home to the families of migrant labourers. Most of them worked as rag pickers and domestic helpers in nearby housing societies. A pile of clothes, utensils and a pair of sports shoes lying here and there are testimony to leaving the house in a hurry. Others living nearby said that Muslim families, mostly from Assam, were living in fear since the Mahapanchayat.

Everyone quietly went back

Bimla Yadav, a 45-year-old woman from Chhattisgarh who works as a domestic help living nearby, said, “They left overnight. I tried to stop them saying that there is no reason to go like this. But he was determined to go back to Assam. Another neighbor said, ‘It’s only been two months since I came from Bengal to work here. After Eid, I saw some families leaving. I don’t know the reason. They all went quietly.

Muslim families were scared of the Mahapanchayat

Satpal, the owner of the land on which the huts have been built, was in Haridwar when he got a call that the tenants were packing. “I was told that they were scared after the mahapanchayat. I couldn’t talk to any of them. All those who went were from Assam. Let us tell you that on July 3, a Mahapanchayat was organized in a temple in Manesar. Where members of the Bajrang Dal and several other Hindu organizations called for a boycott of Muslim shopkeepers and demanded that the administration launch a campaign to verify their documents.

 

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