100 rifles: Call to pick up arms at mahapanchayat

People attend a ‘Mahapanchayat’ called by Hindu outfits, at Nuh-Palwal border, near Pondri village in Haryana, on Sunday. Pic/PTI

At the mahapanchayat called by Hindu outfits at Pondri village in Haryana's Palwal on Sunday, speakers placed their demands and reportedly issued threats in the presence of police. Participants from Palwal, Gurugram and other nearby places took part. According to a report in NDTV, one of the speakers said, "If you raise a finger, we will cut off your hands." Some Hindu leaders said that Hindus in Nuh, a Muslim-dominated district, be given relaxation in securing arms licences for self-defence.

According to a report in India Today, Haryana Gau Rakshak Dal's Acharya Azad Shashtri said, "We should immediately ensure getting license of 100 arms in Mewat, and not guns, but rifles because rifles can do long-range firing. It is a do or die situation. This country's division was on the basis of Hindu and Muslims. It's because of Gandhi that these Muslims stayed back in Mewat."

He added, "We shouldn't be scared of FIRs. There are FIRs against me also but we shouldn't be scared." Superintendent of Police, Palwal, Lokendra Singh had set terms before giving permission for the mahapanchayat, including limiting the attendance capacity at 500 people. "No one will deliver hate speeches. A case will be immediately registered if someone does. No one will bring weapons, sticks, batons, or any flammable object," NDTV quoted Singh as saying.

In Nuh, four battalions of central forces should be deployed permanently, VHP leader from Gurugram Devender Singh said, giving details of the decisions taken at the mahapanchayat. They also demanded a probe by the National Investigation Agency into the July 31 communal violence in Nuh.

They demanded that the Nuh district be dissolved and merged with some other district, and the area be made free of cow slaughter. The mahapanchayat, attended by some local BJP leaders, was held under the banner of ‘Sarv Hindu Samaj', in which Hindu outfits including the Vishva Hindu Parishad took part. It was presided over by Arun Jaildar, a Khap leader. Zaildar said VHP's Braj Mandal Yatra , which was disrupted on July 31, must be completed on August 28.

500
No of attendees the police had allowed

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