Post-Pahalgam terror attack, call for Muslims to ‘leave’ Haryana's Rohtak village

At a time when the people of Jammu and Kashmir are standing in solidarity with the victims of horrors in Pahalgam, and the Valley had shut down to disown the perpetrators of what many termed "murder of Kashmiriyat", a contrasting narrative is playing out in a village in Haryana's Rohtak, nearly 750 km away.
Some of the villagers of Kharawar – one of the biggest villages of Rohtak-- including the de facto sarpanch of the village (the son of the woman sarpanch), reportedly issued a diktat on Thursday evening ordering Muslim residents to vacate the village by May 2. As many as 12 members of the Muslim community were told to give an undertaking that they would leave the village within the stipulated time.
As per information accessed by TOI, an announcement was made on Thursday in the village WhatsApp group, having 900 members, that it was time to remove the minority community members from the village.
The voice note in the village WhatsApp group referred to the "Pahalgam mein jo kaand hua hai (What has happened in Pahalgam)...", leading several villagers to support the eviction call allegedly made by Deepak Malik. TOI is in possession of all audios, chats as well as undertakings by Muslim families regarding leaving the village by May 2.
As many as 15 Muslim families have been living in the village for around 10-12 years, most of them working as mechanics, labourers in nearby factories or as small-time junk dealers. Taniya, who is a junk dealer in village, said that around 15 people led by Deepak Malik visited her place and asked them to leave by May 2-3.
"I said that we have been living here for past 10-15 years. Those who have committed the crime should be punished, why are we being harassed? But they said we don't want any Muslim here. They said if something happens, don't blame us," she added.
Talking to TOI, she claimed that they had not informed the police, fearing the clout of other party as well as the tense atmosphere, but apprised Dheeraj Malik, a Zila Parishad councillor, of their plight.
Dheeraj Malik told TOI that he had assured the Muslims not to worry and told them they could stay at his place in case somebody troubled them. Malik added that some people in the village have been vitiating the peaceful atmosphere to stay in the limelight, but they are making efforts to ensure that this does not happen.
Deepak Malik did not respond to the calls and message sent on his WhatsApp.