‘No move by administrators to ensure safety of the aggrieved’

Even after four days of the violence, the victims of the <g data-gr-id="42">Atali</g> village in Faridabad remain lodged at the Ballabgarh police station, about 15 <g data-gr-id="43">kms</g> away from where the incident happened on Monday. The locals and neighbours  continue to provide food and water to the families for whom the police station has now become their home.

Taj Mohammad, a local who has volunteered to help them out, said: “I heard their plight and came here to <g data-gr-id="31">help</g> but I am amazed to see that the administrators are not doing anything fruitful.”

Tensions sparked in the village of <g data-gr-id="36">Atali</g> on Monday when members of a community attacked those of another community for building a mosque just next to a temple. The land for building the mosque was under dispute for a long time. However, the construction of the mosque started after a court order was issued in favour of the latter. 

Later, since the land of the mosque was just beside the temple, the people of the community were offered a portion outside the village by the headman. This, however, did not go down well with the people of the affected community and they began the construction. The tension aggravated since, which resulted into a fiery violence. Houses were burnt down and people were assaulted. In order to save themselves from being beaten up, they fled the village.

The open doors of the houses indicate the haste in which they left. Late on Wednesday night, the affected persons complained of a 70-year-old woman being assaulted in connection with the violence. 

However, the police posted in the village denied any such news. A police personnel, on condition of <g data-gr-id="46">anonymity</g> disclosed to Millennium Post that the news of the woman being assaulted on Wednesday was an attempt by the affected community to further fan the tension. On asking why nobody was being arrested despite FIRs being lodged against the perpetrators, the personnel added that some of the accused are absconding. He said that the police are trying to first resolve the prevailing tension between the two communities and if arrests happen amid this, there will be a possibility of fresh violence. 

However, arrests will be done once both the communities reach some point of mutual understanding, he assured. 

The area is still tense and in order to maintain calm, the Haryana Police have deployed a unit of Rapid Action Force (RAF) since Monday.