Visit of civil society organizations at Atali village, Ballabhgarh, Haryana, today (5th June 2015)
Today a team consisting of members of PUCL, NAPM, Khudai Khidmatgar and Socialist Party visited the Atali village in Ballabhgarh District (Haryana) led by Justice Rajinder Sachar (Retd). Team met the Muslim residents who were attacked on 25th May, 2015, whose houses were burnt, belongings looted or destroyed and who had to flee from the village to save their lives and had taken shelter in a police station at Ballabhgarh till 3rd June. The team was happy to see that elders of the majority community had approached them and assured them of their co-operation in protecting them and support in building the ‘mosque’ and on their assurance, as well assurance of the administration, they have returned to the village from 3rd June, 2015. However since their houses were burnt and their belongings totally destroyed or looted by the anti-social elements, they have to rebuild their lives from scratch. The interim compensation at the rate of Rs.5000/- per family given to the victims by the administration is totally insufficient.
Besides the Muslim residents, the team members met SDM Dr. Priyanka Soni, some police officials including two ACPs who were present at the spot as well as members of the majority community of the village. Though the administration and the elders of the majority community asserted that they are committed to the building of the mosque, still there are some mischievous elements who, inspite of the court verdict against them and inspite of the compromise, seem to be unsatisfied and have again gone to the court of CJM, Faridabad, in appeal claiming that the land of the mosque belongs to the Panchayat and got a notice issued to the Mosque committee as well as the Panchayat. Matter is fixed tomorrow for hearing. However the team is surprised to note that though there are more than eight temples, there is no properly constructed mosque in the village and the Muslim residents have been offering their prayers in a make-shift tinshed for more than a century.
The team urges upon the Haryana Govt. that (i) the task of building the mosque must be given top priority and urgency, and proper protection be given to the mosque committee for this purpose; (ii) Adequate compensation be given to the victims of violence so that they are able to rehabilitate themselves in a dignified manner; (iii) that those responsible for violence should be immediately arrested and prosecuted and (iv) that due protection be given to the Muslim families and their properties.
The team members were Justice Rajinder Sachar, N.D.Pancholi, Prof. V.K.Tripathi, Vimal Bhai, Faisal Khan, Rizwan Ahmad, Farah Sakib and Abdul Malik.
[released by] N.D.Pancholi, President, PUCL (Delhi)