Panipat: Villagers tear down posters banning entry of Muslims
Matlauda police station in-charge Manpree Sudan said the posters were installed by some anti-social elements but the police and villagers took a serious note of it and they were removed
A day after posters banning the entry of members of the Muslim community were put up in the Nohra village of Panipat district, the posters were taken down by the villagers on Thursday.
The matter came to light when photos of the posters went viral on social media and the district administration and the police swung into action.
“Youths under the influence of people of other villages installed the posters. After some people shared the photos on social media and the matter came to our notice, we called a panchayat and the banners were removed,” said Kamal Kumar, husband of village sarpanch Kiran Bala.
There are around 100 members of a Muslim community that lives in this Gurjar community-dominated village and the villagers refuted the allegations that they were told to leave.
“We live together for the past 50 years and there was no controversy between the Muslims and Hindus but now some people were trying to create a rift between people on the basis of religion for political gains, but they will not succeed”, said an elderly villager.
On the other hand, a local advocate Islam Ansari has filed a complaint with the office of superintendent of police (SP) Panipat demanding action against the people behind the installation of such posters in the village. Ansari told HT that he met the SP and gave a written complaint regarding the matter.
Matlauda police station in-charge Manpree Sudan said the posters were installed by some anti-social elements but the police and villagers took a serious note of it and they were removed.
“Taking an against the people behind the installation of these posters, the villagers had called a meeting and they were left with a warning,” Sudan added.
This is the second incident in the past three days. On Independence Day, a group of people allegedly participated in a tiranga yatra and tried to enter a mosque to hoist the National Flag at the premises in Samalkha town, Panipat. The police have registered a case under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code against the unidentified accused.
