- Thursday, February 27, 2025
Seven lives have been lost while more than 70 have been injured in rioting in Nuh and Gurugram districts of the Haryana state after a Hindu religious procession was targeted and a mosque was attacked in response.
By: Shubham Ghosh
CLASHES between India’s majority Hindu and Muslim communities outside New Delhi this week have exposed the religious fault lines in the region and put a booming business centre at mercy of violence and disruptions, according to authorities and analysts, Reuters reported.
Seven lives have been lost while more than 70 have been injured in rioting in Nuh and Gurugram districts of the northern Indian state of Haryana after a religious procession taken out by a Hindu right-wing outfit was targeted and a mosque was attacked in response.
The two-day violence which was put out on Wednesday (2) has shown tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities brewing in the region since 2015, a year after the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of prime minister Narendra Modi came to power both in the state and New Delhi.
The tension was aggravated by the killing of two Muslim men in the region earlier in 2023 by suspected Hindu vigilantes and the failure to nab the main suspect who declared on social media that he would take part in the Hindu procession in Haryana which was targeted.
“It has been shocking to see how distrust between two communities spilled onto the streets,” Haryana’s home minister Anil Vij was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“Security has been restored…bringing relief and social harmony will take time,” Vij said, adding that authorities understand safety concerns of businesses in Gurugram.
Gurugram, formerly called Gurgaon, is a city of more than 1.5 million people that shares a border with the Indian capital.
The city is home to multinational firms and big Indian corporates and start-ups, with 250 of the Fortune 500 firms having offices. Giants such as Google, American Express, Samsung, Dell, Deloitte and others have their offices in the city. Even the main plant of Suzuki is located near Gurugram.
Many companies asked their employees in work from home on Tuesday (1) in the wake of the violence while schools and colleges in the region were reportedly closed before resuming the next day.
Communal tensions are not something that Gurugram is not unfamiliar with. In the past, it has seen tensions over Muslims holding their Friday prayers in the public and sale of meat during Hindu festivities, something that the majority Hindu groups wanted banned to respect Hindu sentiment.
While clashes between the two communities occasionally happen in today’s India, tensions continue to simmer with many Muslims saying that they live in fear as the politics of the ruling party has emboldened the majority community.
But the violence does not augur well for a business hub such as Gurugram, say analysts.
According to them, it sends the wrong signal to businesses at a time when India is seeking more foreign investments under Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign.
“Official reaction was inexplicably slow,” Tara Kartha, distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
“The commercial heart of north India was a target this time. It should have been prevented.”
