The leaders of farmer bodies and khap panchayats in Haryana’s Hisar district on Wednesday resolved that they will not allow anyone to harm Muslims, a week after communal violence was reported from the Nuh and Gurugram districts, reported PTI.

Communal clashes had erupted between Hindus and Muslims during the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, a procession organised by the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on July 31, and quickly spread beyond Nuh, killing five persons.

The violence also spread to Gurugram where Hindu mobs went on a rampage torching a mosque in Sector 57, killing its deputy imam and setting fire to shops and shanties of Muslim migrant workers in Sector 70 the next day.

The mahapanchayat, organised under the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Mazdoor Union in Hisar’s Baas village, resolved to restore peace in Nuh, reported PTI. The meeting was attended by nearly 2,000 farmers from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities, reported The Indian Express.

“Here are Muslims, I dare you to touch them,” farmer leader Suresh Koth said, reported The Indian Express. “All the khaps are responsible [for their protection].”

He said that Haryana’s soil will not be used to divide people on the lines of caste and religion.

Koth also rebuked some panchayat leaders in Mahendergarh, Rewari and Jhajjar districts for purportedly writing letters banning Muslim traders from the villages, reported PTI.

Farmers at the meeting pledged that they will not participate in any type of caste or communal violence. The panchayat demanded action against those who were responsible for provoking people by uploading videos on social media.

Following the violence last week, civic authorities in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state had been demolishing allegedly illegal homes and shops, most of them belonging to Muslim migrant workers. The owners of several buildings that were demolished said that they did not receive any notices from civic authorities.

However, on Monday, Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the demolition drive and asked if the action in the violence-hit districts was “an exercise of ethnic cleansing”.

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