5 killed in Hindu-Muslim clashes in India’s Haryana state

Delhi: According to Indian Express, five people—including a naib imam of a mosque in Gurgaon—were slain and over 50 others were injured as Hindu-Muslim confrontations broke out in the Indian state of Haryana close to New Delhi. According to Reuters, which cited concerned police officials, the violence started as a Hindu religious  procession travelled through the predominantly Muslim Nuh district, which is situated around 50 km  from the nation’s capital. According to Krishan Kumar, Nuh police spokesperson, “the procession was intended to move from one temple to another but clashes broke out between two groups on the way.”

Two of the dead, he added, were members of the home guard, a voluntary force aiding police in controlling civil disturbances; while another 10 police personnel were also injured in the riots.

By Monday night, the violence spilled over into neighbouring Gurugram, where a mosque was torched around midnight, killing one person and injuring another.

Meanwhile, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said a curfew has been imposed in the district on Tuesday with schools and colleges directed to be closed.

The situation in the region remains tense, while fresh violence has not been reported. Security, however, has been beefed up in Nuh and other areas, Indian news agency PTI reported.

“The attackers (who torched the mosque) have been identified and several of them have been rounded up,” Gurgaon Police said in a statement on Tuesday morning.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, in a post on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, also condemned the incident, where curfew orders have been imposed and the internet shut off.

“The guilty will not be spared at any cost, the strictest action will be taken against them,” he said.