Residents, local authorities, and a community organization have all reported that more than 3,000 impoverished Muslims have fled Gurugram this month, a bustling business hub located on the outskirts of India's capital, New Delhi. Their flight comes in the wake of targeted attacks by Hindu activists, triggering a dire situation.
According to reports by Reuters, Muslim-owned shops have been shuttered, and homes in two major impoverished neighborhoods have been locked up. This follows over a week of violence that resulted in the deaths of seven individuals during clashes in Nuh and Gurugram, located in the adjacent state of Haryana.
The eruption of violence on July 31st targeted Muslims and persisted for several days, sending ripples of fear among families that had migrated to the emerging urban center of Gurugram in search of livelihood opportunities.
Witnesses revealed to Reuters that the pelting of stones, torching of properties, and vandalizing of two modest Islamic shrines in these poverty-stricken neighborhoods compelled hundreds of Muslim families to abandon their cramped one-room dwellings. They sought temporary refuge at a train station before eventually fleeing the area.
Raouf Allah Javid, a tailor who found refuge in his ancestral village in Bihar, shared his experience with Reuters over a phone call. He said, "Many of us spent the entire night on the train station platform because it was considered a safer option."
Mohammad Salem, the leader of Gurugram's branch of the Indian Muslim Scholars Association, approximated that more than 3,000 Muslims have vacated the vicinity in the aftermath of the violent events.
Another eyewitness, Shahid Sheikh, a local barber who fled from Tiga village—home to over 1,200 Muslim families—explained, "Groups of Hindu men approached and began inquiring about our financial circumstances."
Sheikh continued, "Numerous Muslims arrived at the conclusion that a temporary departure would be in their best interest," adding that some Hindu proprietors who rented shops to Muslims requested they vacate the premises.
Tensions between India's Hindu majority and Muslim minority have escalated due to issues encompassing cow slaughter and interfaith marriages. Muslims allege that Hindu activists have increasingly targeted them since the Bharatiya Janata Party rose to power in 2014.
While leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party acknowledge that clashes between these communities have surfaced in the past, they emphasize that their frequency has decreased since their assumption of power.
These developments in Gurugram, a city of over 1.5 million residents, previously known as Gurgaon, have raised concerns for multinational corporations, including Google, American Express, Dell, Samsung, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte, that are based in the region.
Source: News Agencies