GURUGRAM: More than a dozen sword-wielding right-wing activists wearing saffron robes from different lesser-known organisations allegedly forced the closure of meat shops in Gurugram.
According to media reports, the incident took place on Saturday in the city’s Dundahera area on the first day of Navratri, a nine-day Hindu festival.
Members of the self-proclaimed different lesser-known organizations caught on camera holding sword, hockey sticks, batons and iron rods in hand while forcing the shutting down of around 180 meat and chicken shops across the city.
Haryana: Hindu Sena workers ask meat shop owners in Gurugram to keep their shops closed during #Navratri. DCP West says, “A video went viral in which Hindu Sena workers were seen asking shopkeepers to close their shops. We haven't received any complaint. Video being examined." pic.twitter.com/DH4YdwnIfy
— ANI (@ANI) April 6, 2019
Eyewitnesses described the scenes as “horrifying”.
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“They entered this road in the morning and told us to close the shops,” said Munis-ul Rehman, a meat shop owner told TOI. “I am from Darbhanga village in Bihar and have been working here since 2010. I know Navratri occurs twice a year. We have always been shutting our shops during Dussehra but we were never asked to close shops during this time of the year. This is the first time it has happened,” he added.
The Chief of the Hindu Sena’s Gurugram unit, Ritu Raj said,
“We have visited Sectors 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 21 and 22, Palam Vihar, Badshahpur, Om Vihar, Surat Nagar, Sadar Bazar, Anaj Mandi Dhanwapur, Dundahera, Molaheda, Sikandarpur and many other places and forced meat sellers to shut shops,” reported India Today.
This is not the first time that fringe groups made such an attempt to thwart law and order in Gurugram. Last year too, similar incidents were reported and the fanatics even assaulted meat shop owners.