Calls for an economic boycott are crushing us, say Muslim traders

It has been a week since Abdul Hossen* opened his meat shop in Gurugram’s Sadar Bazar.

After pulling down the shutters on August 1, a day after the VHP rally in Haryana’s Nuh district, Mr. Hossen says he was thinking of reopening his shop over the weekend.

However, he adds, Sunday’s mahapanchayat by local Hindu community members in the city’s Tigra village, where calls were made to boycott Muslim-run businesses, came as a shocking reminder that “I could be their next target”.

“How is it that a group of people can organise such an event, where they abuse us, while the police and the government stay silent?” Mr. Hossen said.