The late Prof Mushirul Hasan was a columnist of the Indian Express. He used to write a fortnightly column that appeared on the editorial page of the paper. It is said that if the news pages of a newspaper constituted the state, the editorial page represented the church. I liked his writing, which was semi-academic and had a wide appeal.

One of his columns was exceptionally brilliant. He wrote about his visit to Mewat in Haryana and what he saw there. That was my first peep into the culture of the region.

He wrote about the composite culture of Mewat, where the Muslims were called Meos. Originally, Mewat comprised parts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. It was a Muslim-majority area where the 16th century singer Mirabai, also known as Sant Mirabai, walked the length and breadth singing in praise of Krishna.

It was the influence of Sufi saints that resulted in the conversion of a large number of people into Islam. While changing their faith, they retained much of their cultural traditions. Small wonder that they still retain their Hindu names.

Folk singing is very strong in Mewat. There are Muslim singers who present a local variety of the Ramayana and Mahabharata stories. I accidentally met a Meo at Alwar in Rajasthan. He showed me his father’s photograph. He was a singer. The photograph showed him receiving an honour from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The singing tradition is on the deathbed as neither Hindu nor Muslim fundamentalists encourage it. As the faultlines deepen, some of the traditions have been coming asunder.

When the Partition occurred, only a few people from Mewat migrated to Pakistan. A vast majority believed in the promises given by Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru to stay back in India.

During the First War of Independence in 1857, hundreds of Meos sacrificed their lives for the national cause. The freedom struggle also saw a large participation of the Meos. The names of some of them figure in the list of people who died in the cellular jails in Andamans, from where Savarkar escaped by submitting letters of clemency to the British.

A few years ago, I had the privilege of accompanying a Muslim bridegroom, who went to his bride’s house on horseback. As he was an orphan, I was treated almost like his father. It was difficult to believe that it was a Muslim wedding, although the marriage proper was solemnised in Muslim style. As a member of the Baaraat (the party that accompanies the groom), I enjoyed all the privileges that came with it. 

When the states were reorganised, a part of Mewat became a part of Rajasthan. And when Punjab was split to form Haryana, a vast majority of the Meos became Haryanvis.

They speak a dialect which is quite distinct from Hindi. Nuh, a town situated less than 50 kms from Gurugram in Haryana, is the headquarters of Mewat. It is the only Muslim-majority district in Haryana.

According to the Niti Ayog, the body that replaced the Planning Commission, founded by Nehru, Nuh district is the most aspirational district in the country. Don’t be fooled by the word “aspirational”. It is a euphemism for the most backward district in the country.

It is the most backward in terms of education, income, literacy, women empowerment, infant mortality, mother’s mortality etc. As a member of the Assessment and Monitoring Authority of the Planning Commission, I had an occasion to present a report on the condition of the district.

We found that money earmarked for the development of the people of Nuh district did not reach them as it was utilised to develop the infrastructure at the district headquarters. For instance, if special funds were sanctioned for education, the authorities concerned would spend it on building a new school a few kilometres away from Nuh.

It will not benefit the people living in the interior areas of the district. That is why the district remained backward on all indices of growth. Haryana has the worst male-female ratio. However, the male-female ratio in Nuh district is almost 50:50. This is because the Muslims do not practice female foeticide.

Agriculture and animal husbandry are the mainstay of the people in Nuh district. Let me also mention that the literacy level continues to be low, though there is a crave for learning among the people. The condition of the government schools is pathetic.

Private schools charge hefty fees, which are beyond the means of the ordinary people. The condition of healthcare is also far from satisfactory. The Aravali Ranges that pass through the area have been undergoing a transformation with illegal quarrying.

True, the BJP government in Haryana has stopped such quarrying to a large extent but this has created another problem in its wake. Many people who were employed in quarrying have lost their jobs. They have not been able to get alternative jobs.

Earlier, hundreds of people were employed in selling biryani that had buffalo meat in it. At Rs 20-30 a plate, it was affordable to the people. Cyclists selling Biryani could be seen all over the district.

One of the first acts of the BJP government was to stop the sale of Biryani in this manner. Hundreds of people lost their jobs and thousands lost access to cheap food.

Those who were employed in the dairy sector had to stop keeping cows as they could neither sell old cows nor slaughter them. Haryana has the toughest anti-cow slaughter laws in the country. 

For instance, cow slaughter attracts a longer jail term than manslaughter. Today, cows have virtually disappeared from the district. Muslims are simply scared of keeping them. 

Adjacent to Nuh is the Gurugram district. The district headquarters has ultramodern high-rise buildings that accommodate hundreds of multinational companies. Gurugram has been expanding so much so that, sooner than later, it will touch Nuh, which too has been expanding on all four sides.

In both the districts of Nuh and Gurugram, Sangh Parivar activists have been making life miserable for Muslims. They are prevented from praying in public places on Fridays. Even those places which are designated for mass prayers are not given to them.

In fact, when the Muslims turn up for prayer, they are driven away  by the lumens with the support of the police. The modus operandi is very clear. They want to create a fear psychosis in the minds of the Muslims. 

In Nuh there have been some cases of lynching to death of Muslims. Those who took the law into their own hands should have been languishing in jails but they are out in the open threatening to show the Muslims their place.

One notorious character who has blood on his hands has been a nuisance in the area. Recently, the Hindutva elements wanted to take out a religious procession. Rumours were spread that the man, who should have been behind bars, would take part in the procession. It was quite a provocation for the hot-headed among the Muslim community.

On July 31, the police allowed the procession to begin. This is a new tradition which began just two years ago. There was nothing religious about the procession. There were about 2000 to 3000 men mostly in the age-group of 15 to 25. Many of them wielded lathis, saffron flags on sturdy sticks and weapons. Some even carried firearms. There was nothing religious about the procession.

They were supposed to travel about 40 kms through thick Muslim-populated areas. No, there is no bar on such processions. What made it worrisome was the rumour that the procession would include Monu Manesar, who allegedly killed two men.

In ordinary circumstances, the police should not have permitted the procession. Curiously, the district police chief was on leave that day. There are different versions of why he went on leave. One has it that he was opposed to allowing the procession. And he was over-ruled by the powers-that-be.

He took the option of least resistance by going on leave citing personal, family reasons. Of course, as head of the district police, he would have had access to intelligence reports that things were not hunky-dory on the law and order front. He could have foreseen that there would be trouble.

The government handed over the responsibility to the SP of a neighbouring district. And he did little to beef up security as the procession began from a temple near Nuh. As the lumpen elements took to the road after hearing a provocative speech by one of the organisers, they began shouting provocative slogans.

Social media warriors of both communities were ready for a showdown. As was only to be expected, when a group of about 500-600 Muslim youths tried to block the procession, violence broke out. The police were not prepared for the clash. They fled the scene leaving the roads open to the rioters.

The Muslims were looking for the man who sought to humiliate them. A committee which studied the situation reported that one reason why they put the torch to some vehicles was because they believed that he was hiding in them.

Whatever be the truth, five people were killed. State Home Minister Anil Vij was the first to say that the riot was well planned and well organised. Perhaps, he targeted the Muslims when the fact is that the whole episode happened because of a needless procession. Videos of the procession will show that it was an out and out show of hatred.

The Janhastakshep committee in its report mentioned that the FIRs the police filed in this connection were all targeted at the Muslims. The agent provocateurs have more or less escaped. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s statements only added fuel to the fire. 

What followed the violence on July 31 was totally shocking. The police tried to make up for their lapse by targeting the Muslims. Bulldozers were employed to demolish their buildings and  other establishments.

Of course, the lame excuse given was that they were situated in government land or were not authorised. That did not give the police the right to demolish them. Khattar took his cue from his Uttar Pradesh counterpart while employing the heavy machines selectively against the minorities.

Meanwhile, my friend and member of the Rajya Sabha, Binoy Viswam, and other political leaders were prevented from visiting the riot-affected area. However, the police had no problem allowing communally-minded criminals from flexing their muscles on the road.

Violence had spread to nearby districts like Palwal and Gurugram in Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh bordering Faridabad. Over the next few days, nearly 500 houses and buildings were destroyed in the name of law and order. The use of bulldozers and other strong-arm measures had no legal sanction.

The bulldozer operation would have continued if the Punjab and Haryana High Court had not intervened and stopped it. The court wondered whether the police were trying to ethnically cleanse the area of Muslims, though not in so many words. Meanwhile, some village chieftains issued diktats to prevent Muslim hawkers from entering their villages.

Khattar, who had his upbringing in an organisation that has all the characteristics of a militia, did not issue any statement to suggest that the government would not be taking sides. A group of Rohingyas, who are in India under a United Nations programme, and who live in the area were attacked and their belongings destroyed. That they hold identity cards issued by the UN did not bother the police.

One of the leaders of the Meo farmers is Zafar Mewati Yaduvanshi. He told a visiting group of investigators about the Roopraka village of Palwal district that had lent more than 400 martyrs to the first war of independence. Such stories do not suit the Hindutva narrative which is focused entirely on the military leader Mangal Pandey.

One of the persons who was killed in the violence is Homeguard Neeraj Khan. Newspapers mentioned only his first name. His family is a torchbearer of the Mewati culture. His cousin’s name is Sukhdev, while his wife is called Vakeela. His nine-year-old daughter is Nitika. 

There is nothing incongruous about such names. Yet, they are branded as uncouth and uncivilised and targets of hatred. Only a judicial inquiry will unravel the mysteries of the stage-managed show that Nuh and neighbouring districts witnessed for five days beginning July 31. Who will bite the bullet? That is the big question!

ajphilip@gmail.com