The communal clashes in Nuh, Haryana that erupted on Monday after a mob tried to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession, were triggered by a video featuring cow vigilante Monu Manesar who had reportedly appealed to his followers to join the “Brajmandal” rally in the Mewat district of Haryana. After that, a succession of provocative posts have been blamed by state authorities as fuelling the violence in Nuh.
Haryana's Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday said that the state government has formed a three-member committee tasked with monitoring social media activities from July 21 onwards. On provocative posts and videos shared widely circulated on social media, Vij said it does not mean that people's houses will be set on fire, vehicles burnt, bullets fired.
Did social media trigger violence in Nuh?
A video of Bajrang Dal member Monu Manesar, who is booked by the Rajasthan Police in February for the killing of two Muslim men, that he would join the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek procession in Nuh was widely circulated on social media. After his video went viral, some Mewati Muslim youngsters responded by posting their own videos, warning the administration not to allow him in Mewat and demanding for his arrest.
Prior to the yatra, another cow vigilante, Bittu Bajrangi, had also shared a video of him participating in the procession. The slow-motion clip showed Bajrangi walking in saffron attire, accompanied by a soundtrack featuring the lyrics “Goli pe goli chalengi, baap to baap rahega” (gunshots will be exchanged, the father will remain the father).
On the day of the yatra too, several Bajrangi and VHP followers livestreamed the procession. One such video showed Bajrangi exclaiming in a post, “Your brother-in-law is arriving with a convoy of 150 cars. Have the garlands ready. Don’t complain later about not being informed of my visit to my in-laws,” according to a report by India Today.
All the social media posts and videos had threats of violence and provocation in common. Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram over the past two days.
