'Leave or...': Migrants live in fear amid Haryana violence

Scared by the violence, auto-rickshaw driver Rehmat Ali is thinking of going back home to West Bengal.

“Some people came on motorcycles on Tuesday night, threatening us that if we do not leave, they would set fire to our slum. Police have been present here since night but my family is scared and we are leaving the city,” said Ali, who lives in a slum in Sector 70A in Gurugram.

"We can come back when the situation improves," he added.

After the communal violence in Gurugram, some Muslim migrants are thinking of leaving the city at least for a while.

Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, have died in the clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram over the past two days.

In Nuh, some Hindu migrants have decided to leave the city.

As curfew is imposed in the district, the migrant families, including children, are preparing to leave the place on foot.

Jagdish from Madhya Pradesh said that he was living in Nuh for the last several months but now feeling scared here, and would leave for his hometown.

Like Jagdish, Ram Avatar of Uttar Pradesh, who is living in Gurugram with his family, said several Hindu families have started leaving for their hometowns since Tuesday night.

“About 400 Hindu families have been forced to leave the city,” claimed Jagdish who works as a daily wager.

In Gurugram, like Ali, there are many others who have decided to leave the Millennium City that provides livelihood to a number of migrant people from across the country.

Bamisha Khatun, a native of West Bengal who also lives in the Sector 70A slum, said that she had come to Gurugram in search of work three years ago.

Khatun, who works as maid, said, "I fear for my life and property, and have decided to leave for my hometown."

Ahila Bibi, another migrant, said that she did not want to take risk and would come back later when the situation improves.

Khalid, a native of West Bengal, said he has no other option but to leave the city.

“We talked to our land owner who clearly said that he will not be responsible for any untoward incident in the wake of communal flare-up. So, we decided to return to our native village,” Khalid, a painter, said.

According to police, several people, most of them from Muslim community, living in slums in Wazirabad, Ghata village, Sector 70A and Badshahpur, are returning to their native place.

A senior police officer accepted that some migrant workers who used to work as drivers, gardeners, street hawkers, servants and maids are going back to their native places due to fear.

However, he said that the situation is normal in Gurugram. “Police and RAF are deployed in the entire district to deal with any type of situation. We appealed to people to avoid rumours and to not fear,” the officer added.

Several people from Manesar, Teekli, Kasan, IMT and some other areas are also thinking of returning to their native places.

“It has come to our knowledge that some workers are returning to their native places but the situation in Gurugram is normal. Our confidence building exercise continues with RWAs and slum area residents. They should not fear, and we assure them of their safety and security,” Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav told PTI.

Meanwhile, many fruit hawkers were found missing from Gurdwara Road near the main vegetable market and also from Khandsa Mandi on Wednesday. The area near Jama Masjid of Gurugram also wore a deserted look. Most of the shops, including meat shops, were closed in the area.

The migrant workers decided to leave the city after a godown and a shop were set on fire in Sector 70A on Tuesday late night.