Nuh wears a deserted look amid tight security

Closed shops at a deserted market ahead of the shobha yatra in Nuh on Monday. Pic/PTI

The Nuh administration on Monday allowed 15 seers and leaders of right-wing groups to offer prayers at the Shiv temple in Nalhar area of this district in Haryana which has been turned into a fortress in view of the Sarv Jatiya Hindu Mahapanchayat's call for a ‘shobha yatra'.

Authorities have refused permission for the yatra on Monday in the aftermath of the communal clashes on July 31. However, the locals have been allowed to offer prayers in the temples in their neighbourhood on the last Monday of the holy month of Shravan.

Heavy security arrangements have been put in place in view of the call for the yatra and some seers heading towards Nuh were stopped at Gurugram, police said.

Five major checkpoints have been set up from the Delhi-Gurugram border until Nuh with media vehicles not being allowed to go beyond the third checkpoint.

According to officials, the vehicle of Hindu seer Jagatguru Paramhans Acharya from Ayodhya was stopped at the Ghamorj toll plaza near Sohna. Acharya told reporters that he and his followers were carrying the water of the Saryu river and the soil of Ayodhya for the ‘jalabhishek' at Nalhar temple but were stopped by the police. In protest, he sat on a hunger strike near the toll plaza.

Nuh Deputy Commissioner Dhirendra Khadgata said around 15 seers and leaders of some Hindutva outfits have been allowed to visit the Shiv temple in Nalhar and they will perform ‘jalabhishek' there. Mahamandaleshwar Swami Dharm Dev and Swami Parmanand were among the group allowed to visit the temple.

Bajrang Dal's Gurugram district convener Praveen Hindustani said a limited number of people took part in the ‘yatra' and they have now left for the Jhir temple in a bus amid tight security.

However, Hindu rights leader Kulbhushan Bhardwaj claimed that Hindu leaders have been put under house arrest by the Haryana government. "This is an attack on the Hindu faith. By putting Hindu leaders under house arrest, the Haryana government has reminded them of the reign of the Mughals," he said. Police personnel were also deployed outside Bhardwaj's house.

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