Haryana: Hindutva Supporters Create Ruckus at 'Gita Jayanti' Fair, ‘Thrash’ Muslim Shopkeepers

The annual 'Gita Jayanti' fair held at Brahmasarovar in Kurukshetra in Haryana, which started as a craft fair and is now called the 'International Gita Festival', has been gradually turning saffron since 2014. The Central and state governments spend a lot of money on advertising to promote this fair. Along with the country's top leaders, leaders from other countries are also invited as guests to the fair.

But, for the past few years, stalls of Hindutva organisations, such as Bajrang Dal have also started being set up here. Since then, politics of radical Hindutva and communal hatred have started being promoted. The latest case came to light when some Hindutva supporters at the fair allegedly indulged in hooliganism against three Muslim shopkeepers and beat up a Kashmiri Muslim shopkeeper.

The reported incident happened on December 6 and 7, 2024. As per reports, on December 6, during the 'International Gita Mahotsav', some 20-25 people “vandalised” a Muslim bhelpuri seller and furniture shop. It is said that they threw away all the goods of the bhelpuri (savoury snack) seller and allegedly said “You Muslim, you sell bhelpuri by spitting in it, how dare you come and set up shop here?” After this incident, the bhelpuri seller left his shop. That same stall has now been given to a non-Muslim person.

In the second incident, it is alleged that a boy working in a furniture shop was threatened and his skull cap was removed.

Similarly, it is alleged that on December 7, too, a group of about 20-25 people approached a Kashmiri shopkeeper's warm clothing shop, shouting communal slogans. They reportedly attacked him on the head with a stick, terming him a ‘Bangladeshi’. A purported video of this entire incident went viral on social media.

On December 6, the shopkeeper next to the one who was vandalised at stall number 105, told some reporters, including this writer, “There were around 20-25 people. They had Bajrang Dal flags in their hands. They first bought bhelpuri from the shop and when they started making online payment, they found out that the shopkeeper was a Muslim. They started shouting, “How dare you, a Muslim, set up shop here. You are selling bhelpuri after spitting on it.” After this, they threw away all his bhelpuri. The very next day, the Muslim bhelpuri shopkeeper who had come from Deoband, left the fair.”

On the same day, the same mob reportedly went to stall number 95, which was a furniture shop of a Muslim from Saharanpur. They asked the shopkeeper, Aashiq, to remove his skull cap.

Aashiq told reporters, “After attacking the bhelpuri shop, they turned toward our shop. I was standing outside the shop. Seeing the cap on my head, they started shouting, “how dare you wear this cap, take off this cap, we hate this cap”. I took off my cap out of fear.”

The owner of the shop, Moin Rasool, said, “They came inside the shop and asked me what I had come here to do. “You are Bangladeshi infiltrators, get out of our country,” they said. I told them that we are not Bangladeshis, we are from Saharanpur. We come here every year.” Then they said, then you go back to Saharanpur.”

A sad Rasool said, “All the shopkeepers rent shops in this fair. We have been setting up our furniture stall in this fair for the past 20 years. But this time our experience was very painful. Even though the police have assured us that they will protect us, yet we are scared.”

Similarly, on December 7, Yunus Ahmed, a Kashmiri youth selling woollens at stall number 289, said, “These were the same people who created terror on December 6. They were carrying saffron flags with a picture of Hanuman and came toward our shop shouting slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’, and hateful ones like “Don’t buy goods from Muslim shops”, “Remove Muslim shops”, “Throw out Bangladeshis”. They also had sticks in their hands. They called me a Bangladeshi and beat me up, one of them even hit me on the head with a stick. They also broke two phones belonging to me and my friend (he showed us the broken phones). They picked up the warm clothes from our shop and threw them out. Our goods worth about Rs 30,000 were thrown out and stolen by miscreants. The neighbouring  shopkeepers helped us, some common people were also trying to stop them from hooliganism but they were not listening to anyone. They also threatened to set our shop on fire.”

A purported video of the assault on the Kashmiri shopkeeper and the Hindutva procession is also going viral on social media. The faces of the men who assaulted him are clearly visible in this video. The Kashmiri youth told reporters that police officials had assured him of full security. Four policemen had been deployed in front of his shop, but some shopkeepers nearby told us that the police remained a mute spectator and kept watching the episode of threats and violence.

Pawan Kumar, a visitor to the fair, said, “There are tight security arrangements at various places in the ‘International Gita Mahotsav’. The question is that despite such tight security, how come these people reached shops near the lake and indulged in hooliganism? This poses a big question mark on the role of Haryana Police.”

Another Kashmiri shopkeeper, saddened and scared by this incident, said next time he would not set up a stall in this fair.

When asked, Dinesh Kumar, the SHO (station house officer) of Adarsh police station in the area, "The Kashmiri youth has lodged a complaint of assault. A case has been registered under the relevant Sections of theft, spreading hatred in the name of religion, assault and rioting and investigation is going on."

Social activist and advocate Kavita Vidrohi, who personally visited the site of the incident and spoke to the affected shopkeepers and common people, said, “On the one hand, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is trying to make this Gita Jayanti an international affair. On the other hand, fanatic Hindu organisations ideologically affiliated with BJP are not allowing this fair to remain even at the national level by attacking people of their own country. It’s not just this time. This fair has been saffronised for the past several years,” she said.

She further alleged that “for the last few years, huge posters have also been put up here distorting history, like “Bhagat Singh (revolutionary freedom fighter) jumped into the freedom struggle after taking inspiration from the Gita”, “Ambedkar and Einstein were worshippers of the Gita, etc.”

Vidrohi said, “After the coming to power of the (Narendra) Modi government (in 2014), the colour of the Gita Jayanti Fair has changed a lot. Those who make people fight in the name of religion have become more influential here.”

Advocate Sudesh Kumari, general secretary of Jan Sangharsh Manch Haryana, who raised her voice for the rights of the victimised shopkeepers, said, “This fair started as a craft fair to encourage art and craft. People associated with crafts from all over the country have been coming here. In the past eight-10 years, this fair has been completely BJPised. The BJP state and Central governments also propagate their work here. BJP ministers, their wives and family members have started dominating the stage and try to enhance Modi's image through this fair. The stalls are being sold to big contractors.”

Kumari alleged that this year, “the administration beat up the poor hawkers with sticks and got them removed. Along with this, the intimidation of Hindu extremist organisations has also increased. The police have registered an FIR in the case of the shopkeeper being beaten up but have not taken any further action, although the faces of all the people are clearly visible in the video.”

She said earlier, too, in many cases, the police had registered an FIR (first information report) and then did not take any further action. “That is why these fundamentalist forces continue to carry out such activities with confidence. The government fully supports these organisations," she alleged.

The writer is an independent journalist.

(Translated from Hindi by Mahesh Kumar.)