'I'm a Shiv Bhakt but Vigilantes Didn't Spare Me': Hindu Whose Shop Was Attacked
In parts of Haryana, Hindus claim their shops were attacked by vigilantes who confused them for Muslim-run shops.
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Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Video editor: Mod Irshad Alam
In the violence that ensued in different parts of Haryana during Monday’s Shobha Yatra, some Hindu owners of the shops which got damaged claimed it was Hindutva vigilantes who targeted their properties.
In Sohna, an automobile shop got damaged and its owner Shatrughan Shukla, saw his bullet bike set on fire as he hid inside his home.
“I saw everything hiding from the room. Bajrang Dal men from the yatra came in and set my bike on fire. They also damaged one Scooty and one car. I was seeing everything, but I couldn’t come out because what can one man do in front of a crowd of hundred? I was helpless,” Shukla told The Quint.
Shukla's charred bike at his automobile shop.
(Shiv Kumar Maurya/ The Quint)
When asked why he thinks they targeted his shop, Shukla said “because they must have thought this is a Muslim’s shop.”
“This entire lane has only Muslims' houses and Muslim-run shops. Many of those got destroyed too. Mine is the only Hindu-run shop. So they must have assumed this is also a Muslim’s shop. I wanted to tell them I am a Hindu, but I was too scared. Who knows if they would have believed me, it was a risk,” Shukla said.
The other shops in the adjacent lane, owned by Muslims, were also damaged.
The shop is called the ‘Shiva automobile’.
“I am a Shiv bhakt, but they still didn’t spare me. What can I say, that’s their mentality,” he added. Shukla said he has been running his shop for a decade at the spot. “But I have never faced any difficulty from any Muslim. We are like brothers,” he said.
Hindu-Owned Dhaba Vandalised
A dhaba in Sohna called the ‘Shankar Shambhu Hotel and Restaurant’ also got vandalised with its board, the kitchen, and fridge damaged. The owner, Lokesh Singh, said he and his brothers were hiding upstairs when they saw the crowd barge in.
“They barged in, broke our windows, our fridge, stole our cylinder, set fire in one part of the dhaba...we were seeing everything from upstairs,” Singh told The Quint.
Lokesh Singh standing in front of his vandalised dhaba.
(Shiv Kumar Maurya/ The Quint)
A worker in the dhaba, who was hiding inside too, said he saw “it was people from the yatra with sticks who vandalised” the place.
Asked why he thinks they did so, Singh said “I have no idea why our dhaba was targeted like this. It’s a 40-year-old dhaba, that our family has been running for ages.”
Police and Government Failed To Protect Us': Temple Priest
In Nuh, a temple’s gate was vandalised, and the pandit’s motorcycle was set on fire. The pandit, however, claimed “it was local rioters” who were behind it, seemingly blaming a section of local Muslims.
Lal Chand is the priest of the temple whose gate was vandalised.
(Shiv Kumar Maurya/ The Quint)
“Hindus are not safe here. The local rioters came and pulled me out, vandalised the gate of the temple, destroyed my motorcycle,” Lal Chand, the pandit, told The Quint.
The pandit accused the Haryana government and police officials of “failing to prevent violence.”
“The police should have been here since the start. But they showed up after all the violence ended. The government has failed. We need to be given protection here,” he said.
On Wednesday, even two days after the initial spurt of violence during VHP and Bajrang Dal led Shobha Yatra or 'Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra', tensions continued to simmer in different parts of Haryana. "Six people killed, 116 arrested, 90 detained since Monday's clashes. Those found responsible will not be spared. Four more companies of central forces have been sought on Wednesday," CM Manohar Lal Khattar said.
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