Will Return When it's Safe: Muslim Migrant Workers Leave Gurugram Amid Violence
Since clashes broke out, The Quint visited violence-affected areas in Gurugram to speak to the residents.
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On Tuesday, 1 August, Mustafa, shut down his puncture repair shop at a crossroad near Gurugram’s sector 70 -- and left the city. "A scrap shop, located across the road, was vandalised and burnt down by a mob," said the 24-year-old.
The incident gripped him with fear. Charred remnants, twisted metal, and plastic lay scattered across the ground, and served as a haunting reminders of the incident.
Mustafa is not the only one to pack up his shop and leave. With communal violence spread across districts of Haryana, migrant workers -- mostly from the minority community -- in Gurugram have found themselves anxious, jobless, and under threat.
On Wednesday, 2 August, The Quint visited violence-affected neighborhoods in Gurugram’s sector 57, Badshahpur, and sector 70A and spoke to residents – mostly migrant workers – about why they want to leave.
This is their story from the Millennium City.
'Moved to a Relative's Place in Delhi'
Two days after the attack on the Anjuman Jama Masjid in Gurugram’s sector 57 and the murder of the Imam, fear and uncertainty hang heavy in the air.
In the communal clashes that erupted in Haryana’s Nuh on 31 July, and spilled into Gurugram on 31 July and 1 August, six people have been killed so far. Burnt vehicles and shops along the highway paint a gory picture of the arson and loot that was unleashed.
"I have left Gurugram and currently I am living in Seelampur in Delhi at a relative's place. In a few days, I am planning to go back to my hometown in Bihar's Muzaffarpur," said Mustafa over a call.
Roads leading to sector 70 area from Badshapur wore a deserted look as several shops remained shut.
The Quint visited three puncture shops in sector 70A, all owned by Muslim migrants.
(Photo: The Quint)
The dhaba owner, right next to Mustafa's puncture shop, said, "Main kyun bhaagu, main toh Hindu hoon. Yahan se Musalmanon ko bhaga rahe hain (Why should I flee, I am a Hindu. Muslims are being forced out of this area).”
When asked how the violence has affected his business, the dhaba owner, who did not wished to be named, told The Quint, “Most of my costumers are Muslim migrants but so many of them have left for their hometown due to fear... Now, my shop is empty and I am not earning as much as I used to."
A mob allegedly vandalised a scrap shop and set it on fire in Gurugram sector 70A on 1 August.
(Photo: The Quint)
‘Feared for Family's Safety After I Read Comments on Social Media’
In Gurugram’s sector 57, a few Muslim families locked up their rented homes on 1 August for a few days to go live with their relatives in Delhi.
Shamshad, 40, who runs a uniform store in Gurugram told The Quint that he, along with his family, and friends decided to move to safer places in anticipation of violence late on Tuesday night.
“After the incident took place in the mosque nearby, there were a lot of comments on social media against Muslims... I read comments like ‘We need to be finish off Muslims’... That’s when I began to worry for my family’s safety,” said the 40-year-old, over the phone.
The Badshapur masjid wore a desserted look on 3 August, with police personnel guarding the area to avoid any attack on the mosque.
(Photo: Maaz Hasan/The Quint)
Shamshad, a resident of Sheetla colony, which has not been affected by violence, said he and his family fled to their hometown in Uttar Pradesh two days ago. “Though our area is safe, I did not want to take a chance,” he said.
Another Muslim resident, on condition of anonymity, alleged, “We know many of our friends who have gone back to their villages in UP. On Tuesday night, some mobs came to our area in sector 57 and threatened with dire consequences if the Muslim residents, mostly migrant labourers, didn’t leave by Wednesday morning.”
Meanwhile, Shamshad, who is now in UP with his family, has some tough questions to answer. “My children keep asking me why we had to leave our own home. How do I explain to my children that we are unsafe in our own home because of the religion we belong to?” asked Shamsad.
When The Quint visited sector 57, close to where the mosque was vandalised, we noticed that apart from police personnel, there were not more than three people on the road. Only a few shops were open in the area.
A silent road in sector 57 in Gurugram.
(Photo: The Quint)
On Wednesday night, The Quint met a group of four migrant workers outside Gurugram's Badshahpur police station, who had their bags packed, and were looking for an auto.
One of them, Prempal, said he wanted to return to his village. "My parents were worried about my safety after they started hearing about the news of violence here. I don't want to wait till tomorrow morning because what if the situation worsens?" he said.
'Life More Important Than Job'
Altaf Ahmad, social activist and co-founder of the Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, a citizens' initiative group, said that the attack on sector 57 mosque early 1 August was a “new low” in the growing atmosphere of intolerance in the city.
“Friends and family fear that a mob can come anytime and run them down as it happened with the Imam of the mosque. I know people who have returned to their native places – both businessmen and daily wagers,” Ahmad told The Quint.
When asked if it’s affecting their livelihood, a Muslim resident of Gurugram, who hails from Bihar's Muzzafarpur, said, “For now, I have gone to my hometown and have little money to sustain for the next few days. I really need to return to work to earn my meals but right now my life is more important to me than my job. If I’m alive, only then can I earn money”.
Meanwhile, a senior employee at a multi-national company -- a Muslim man -- along with his wife, and children left for his relative’s place in Delhi on 1 August due to the violence.
He told The Quint, “On Monday night, everything was normal in and around sector 57. As soon as I came back home from office, I heard violence had broken out at the mosque nearby and I was shocked. One doesn’t expect such things to happen in such a modern, new city that has a global presence."
“Even though we did not directly witness any violence, it’s the anxiety that drove us out of our own homes. After the mob vandalised the mosque, they asked residents where the homes of people of the minority community are so that they could attack them. That got me extremely worried,” he said.
Those who stayed back are worried sick, and on guard.
Kalu Sheikh, 41, a scrap dealer from West Bengal's Malda, lives in one of the shanties around 200 meters from Anjuman Mosque, which was set ablaze on Monday in Gurugram's Sector 57 area. He said, "We haven’t stepped outside our houses because we are scared. Our neighbours told us to guard our shanties at night in case of any attack, so we haven’t slept and are taking turns to ensure no one enters our area."
These shanties are home to Hindu and Muslim migrants, mostly from Bihar, UP, and West Bengal. Many of them are employed as daily wage labourers.
These Jhuggies are home to migrants, mostly from Bihar, UP, and West Bengal.
(Photo: The Quint)
Despite the violence, a few women in the locality who are employed as domestic helps in high-rises nearby, have continued going to work. “We are scared to go out alone but we have no choice... We need to earn money,” a woman said, on condition of anonymity.
A mob torched the shop of a scrap seller in Badshahpur. The miscreants left the spot by the time the police reached.
(Photo: Varsha Sriram/The Quint)
Another Muslim woman, employed as a domestic help, said, “Our employers are very sweet. They told us not to come in case the situation gets very bad. So, every morning we go to the main road and gauge the situation and then take a call. We can’t take leave for so many days as our salary will be cut."
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