NEW DELHI: A ‘mahapanchayat’ held in Tigra village on Sunday demanded the release of youths arrested in connection with the killing of a Muslim cleric on August 1, giving a seven-day ultimatum to police. The panchayat also demanded the removal of the Anjuman mosque in Sector 57 since the area is Hindu-dominated. Naib Imam Mohammed Saad, 26, was killed during an attack on the Anjuman mosque by a mob in the early hours of Tuesday last week. The attack came hours after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was pelted with stones at Khadli Chowk in Nuh, adjoining Gurugram.
The panchayat formed a 101 people-committee to track the matter. It was adjourned with the ultimatum if the youths are not released, a “big decision” will be taken. Municipal Corporation of Gurugram’s outgoing councillor Mahesh Dayma said that the committee will submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner on Monday demanding the release of the four youths arrested from the village in the mosque murder case and also an impartial inquiry into the matter.
A memorandum will be given to all MLAs and ministers too with the same set of demands, he said. One of the panchayat’s demands was to ban the police from entering the village and continuously raiding the village. The mahapanchayat was held at Tigra village under the chairmanship of Sarpanch Attar Singh of Mohammadpur village. Despite the implementation of Section 144, about 700 people from more than 100 nearby villages participated in it. Among its members were current and former MLAs from Sohna, Sanjay Singh and Tejpal Tanwar, both from BJP, and several councillors and sarpanchas.
Sube Singh Bohra, a former sarpanch of Wazirabad village, said villagers will court arrest en masse if the arrested youths, who he claimed were innocent, are not released. Former district bar association president Kulbhushan Bhardwaj demanded the resignation of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar alleging he was not aware of the flare-up in Nuh till evening.“We do not want such a Chief Minister. He should resign. We need a CM like Yogi Adityanath for such times, or else take Nuh into Uttar Pradesh. Such violence will not be tolerated anymore,” he said. The panchayat was held amid the deployment of heavy security in Tigra and nearby villages.