The United States has called for calm amidst the growing communal violence which sparked in Haryana’s Nuh and has spread to surrounding areas, including Gurugram and Sohna.

During a US State Department briefing on Wednesday, spokesperson Matthew Miller urged parties to refrain from violence.

“With respect to the clashes, obviously, we would, as always, urge calm and urge parties to refrain from violent actions. With respect to whether we’ve heard from any Americans, I’m not aware of that. I’m happy to follow up with the Embassy,” said Miller.

Also Read: What caused unrest in Nuh, Haryana? Modi minister asks why participants carried weapons to religious yatra

The Haryana government has announced suspension of mobile internet services in Nuh, Faridabad, Palwal and three subdivisions of Gurugram until August 5 due to the communal clashes. 

On August 2, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar said that the government will ensure that the cost of damage will be recovered from the perpetrators. 

“We have brought a law and provisions are there (to recover losses from those found guilty). While the government will bear losses for public property, there has also been significant loss to private property. We will ensure that rioters found guilty pay for the damages they have caused,” he said.

Also Read: Manohar Khattar on Haryana violence: ‘Will make rioters pay for damages’

Haryana violence

The violence began on Monday at a religious procession taken out by right-wing organisations Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal in Nuh and later spread to other districts of the state.

The incident sparked a series of communal incidents of violence and multiple shops and businesses were destroyed. 

Following the communal clashes on Tuesday, the right-wing organisations on Wednesday launched over 25 protests at different parts of Delhi-NCR. According to police, no permission was sought for a protest.

Later in the day, Supreme Court of India issued a notice to Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi governments over VHP-Bajrang Dal protest marches saying “rallies can go on but should be video graphed”. 

The apex court also directed these states to ensure that “no hate speech” takes place in rallies and additional forces should be deployed for security reasons during the rallies.

So far six people, including two civilians, have died in the violence and 116 people have been arrested while 90 others have been detained.