Amid Communal Clashes In Nuh, Stories Of Solidarity Emerge From Villages

A class eight student, Ishan Sharma, took an auto from the road connecting his village and Nuh Town at 4 PM on July 31, 2023. The Muslim auto driver asked the 12-year-old where is he headed to. Ishan was on his way for tuition, his family unaware of communal violence in the district during a religious procession. The auto driver called his father, Suresh Sharma, who tells Outlook that not only did the auto driver drop Ishan back where asked, but called back to ensure he reached safely. When violence broke out in Nuh on July 31 at noon, villagers and businesses were caught between the crossfires. Merchants come from Gurgaon and out of Nuh districts to conduct business in these villages.

While police, Hindutva organisations and Muslims engaged in a violent clash, Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Malabh, was in Nuh town training drivers. At around 3 PM, he left for his village in Malabh. But as soon as he reached the TVS showroom in Nuh to catch an auto, he was confronted by a mob of 300-400 people, from where he escaped to Advocate Ayad Mohammad’s residence and stayed there for the next three hours. “He asked me to stay over at his place to evade any mishap. Bahut hifazat se rakha (Kept me with much care),” Kumar says.

A Muslim-majority village, the roads of Malabh on both sides have neem sheds, mosques on one, and temples on the other side. Rajesh shares that he was terrified during those hours when the chaos ensued. “There is a brotherhood in our village among communities in our village. There was stone pelting on the houses, but he didn't let us step out. He’s kept me like his own son. He gave me tea and rotis. He later also offered to drop me off at my village in his vehicle but I came back by myself.”

Ayad’s wife along with her neighbours share that a nurse from Alwar Hospital contacted them when mobs took up the road connecting close to Tiranga Park, a hotspot of the violence. The hospital administration however refused to give comments on them being rescued to safety by Muslim neighbours saying that it would attract negative reaction from some factions.

Teekalgarh, Bundelkhand residents Meera and Nandkishore have been working in Nuh as construction workers for over 14 years. They were working close to Ayad’s residence when they heard the commotion on July 31st and rushed to Ayaad. “Once we are in his house, there’s nothing to fear.” explains the 37-year-old Meera. “They treat us like family. We feel nothing but at home here. When Rajesh was getting scared, I told him, you need not worry, you are safe here.”

Ever since the violence broke out, Meera and Nandkishore have been living at Ayad’s. “They are really good human beings. They have been taking care of our food and stay. In all these years we have never experienced any discrimination or inconvenience from Muslims in these areas.”

The administration destroyed over 200 temporary and permanent shops and about 50 homes in Nuh and Gurugram following the communal violence. This included the medical shops and food/tea stalls outside the Nalhar Medical College. On the first night of the demolitions, attendants at the Nalhar Medical College were forced to sleep on empty stomachs. Many struggles to procure milk for their patients. By noon the next day, two doctors contacted Hidayat Khan, telling him about the desperate situation in the hospital. Khan, a CRPF officer, who retired from the services on July 31st was headed home from his posting in Kashmir on the day of the violence.

For the next two hours in Hidayat’s village, Chandeni, men, women, and children prepared rotis in their kitchen, courtyards, and rooftops in the blistering heat for over 500 people including patients, staff, and attendants. Daal was prepared in a vast vessel. For over three days, the administration failed to provide any relief work. For the first 24 hours, security guards share that they worked without any food or even tea. A young father, whose one-year-old daughter is admitted in the hospital shares that ever since the administration ransacked the shops outside the hospital, it has been difficult even to get milk for his daughter. “We have been feeding her sugar dissolved in water. The other day I walked for over 5 km to get milk, but the police stopped me en route, they released me only after I showed them the milk.”

It was after Hidayat and his village’s intervention that even tea and milk could be arranged for the staff and attendants. “There are no shops in the college campus, we had these few stalls outside, but even they are lost now,” said two final year medical students from Jhajjar and Rohtak, who were visiting security guard Aas Mohammad whose house was demolished by the administration along with his son's tea stall.

The men and women in Chandeni under Hidayat’s leadership have resolved to send food to the hospital until the administration doesn't ensure a sustainable arrangement for those in the hospital. “We have been living in peace for years in these villages, in difficult times, it is our duty to help each other. We are however sometimes concerned about the safety of those who are taking the food or travelling because the police and administration are stopping everyone left and right,” said one of the women from the village who’s been cooking for the hospital.