Hauz Qazi incident: Both sides reach amicable settlement, outsiders turned away

The Hindus and Muslims on Tuesday amicable resolved the communal tiff that had caused tension in the area for the last two days.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mandeep Singh Randhawa told NH that both parties had agreed to resolve the issue through talks in the presence of police officials, political leaders and elders from both the communities.

"The issue has been resolved this evening. There would be normalcy and the market would open from tomorrow morning," he said, adding that strict action would be taken against mischief mongers.

The priest of the temple that was allegedly vandalised by a mob said that he had not asked anybody from outside to come in the area or meddle into the issue.

Standing beside Maulvi Yaqoob, the imam of a local mosque, the priest said it was for the first time in 26 years that he had seen things taking communal colour.

However, barely hours after the compromise was struck, there was some drama as a crowd of a Hindutva outfit again emerged on the scene and started shouting slogans. The police chased them away but the atmosphere again turned tense.

The market had opened on Tuesday morning amid heavy police presence when a group of Hindutva activists, mostly outsiders, came shouting provocative slogans, resulting in the closing of shops out of apprehension.

The Muslims have insited that nobody had deliberately attacked the temple and that a few glasses of the temple had broken during the stone pelting at the men who had beaten up Aas Mohammed.

The trouble had started on Sunday night around 10.30 pm when a teenager Aas Mohammed parked his bike outside Gali Chabuk Sawar.

To this, Sanjiv who sells chow mein there, objected and told the boy to remove his bike. An argument ensued between the two and they came to blows. A few men sitting across the road joined in and badly thrashed Aas Mohammed, whose hand was fractured.

The incident soon took a communal colour when a rumour spread that the boy had been forced to chant ‘jai shri Ram’ by the assaulters. Soon the crowds gathered and a clash erupted.

“Why would a temple be targeted? We suspect some mischief mongers in that gali themselves broke the idols etc. Some people were dragging the issue for their vested interests," said Ubaid Khan, a local.

Meanwhile, the police have picked up a few persons in connection with disrupting the law and order.

One boy, Zubair, who lives in Katra Dina Beg at Lal Kuan, was picked up by the police in the wee hours on Tuesday.

“My brother was picked up around 5 a.m. this morning. When we went to the Hauz Qazi police station, they said he was not there and we were asked to go to Kamla Market police station.

There, nobody had any information. At last, a phone came and the police asked us to reach Tis Hazari court, saying Zubair would be produced there,” said his brother.