Nuh violence: Nalhar Temple priest explains to OpIndia how leftist media misused him statement

Islamists viciously attacked hundreds of Hindu pilgrims on July 31 during the Jalabhishek Yatra on Shravan Somvar in Haryana’s Nuh district. Despite knowing that more than 80 per cent of those who perished in the Nuh violence are Hindus, the typical coterie of leftist liberals and Islamists, as well as their apologists, have been constantly at work to whitewash the attack and portray Muslims as the victims.

Some of these esteemed members of the anti-Hindu brigade went as far as using a half-unfinished statement of the priest of the Nalhar Temple, where thousands of Hindus took refuge to save themselves from the planned Islamist onslaught, to propagate their narrative.

They shared a 20-second clip from an interview wherein Deepak Sharma, the Nalhar Mahadev temple priest, could be heard saying that nothing happened in and around the temple. On the basis of this statement of the priest, the leftist media started concocting a web of lies, insinuating that the rioters did not attack the temple nor were the Hindus held hostage.

Notably, after the Islamist violence took place in Nuh, the leftist media portal Lallantop interviewed Deepak Sharma. In the video, which has garnered around 90 thousand views, the priest can be heard saying, “Nothing happened inside the temple. Whatever happened, it was about 1 to 1.5 km away from the temple.”

As soon as the interview was released, several members of the leftist brigade descended on Twitter and began sharing a 21-second clip from this interview to whitewash the Islamist attack.

It was shared by Twitter user @AG_knocks on August 1, 2023.

नूह के नलहड़ मंदिर से पहाड़ की दूरी 0.5 km नजर आ रही है।कल VHP के लोग मंदिर के भीतर से उस पहाड़ की तरफ इशारा करते हुए बता रहे थे कि पहाड़ के उपर से फायरिंग हो रही है (हालांकि फायरिंग होता जैसा दिखा नही,मंदिर के अंदर अफरा तफरी भी नजर नही आई।

आज मंदिर के पंडित जी ने साफ़ इनकार… pic.twitter.com/xZGqpx9s1b

— Avishek Goyal (@AG_knocks) August 1, 2023

Alt News’ co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who dog-whistled Islamists against Nupur Sharma by sharing an incomplete video of her comments on Prophet Muhammad, also retweeted the 21-second clip from a Lallantop report.

Never trust this vile aurat and her poOP level journalism.

The priest of the temple is clearly saying on record that no stones were pelted at the Temple. pic.twitter.com/AD7KNvC1SM

— Z (@pindropviolence) August 1, 2023

The leftist news portal, The Wire grabbed the opportunity with both hands. It published a report on August 1, 2023, where it used Deepak Sharma’s statement to insinuate that the Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij lied when he asserted that around 3,000 to 4,000 people were held hostage by Muslim rioters at the Nalhar Mahadev temple.

Even while the leftist media and Islamist apologists continue to use the Nuh violence to portray Muslims as the victims instead of the Hindus, which is in conformity with their usual trope to shield Muslims and paint Hindus as the aggressors, the dilemma here is: Can a 21-second clip chosen from in-between an interview explain the priest’s complete argument? Did the left-wing media purposely cherrypick this particular segment of the interview because it suited their narrative so effectively?

To answer these questions and know the truth behind the 21-second propaganda video, OpIndia spoke to Deepak Sharma, the Nalhar Mahadev temple priest. In the conversation which lasted for about 30 minutes, Deepak Sharma, who is originally a native of Punjab, told us that he had been looking after the Nalhar Mahadev Temple in Nuh for the last two and a half years.

When we asked him about the clip that has been going viral, he said that statement is being misconstrued and misrepresented and that he in no way denied the occurrence of the violence. Explaining what he had intended to convey, Deepak said that he meant that he did not witness the incident with his own eyes as he did not come out during the attack as the administration asked them not to. He added to have listened to loud noises from inside and sensed palpable fear among the Hindu devotees.

Deepak Sharma further said that everything was normal until 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but suddenly after that, everything became chaotic.

The Nalhar temple priest further told us that there were CCTV cameras placed in the entire temple premises, however, only the CCTV placed in the sanctum sanctorum area of the temple in working. In other areas, cameras and cables malfunctioned due to bad weather.

He also voiced concern that some people might be exploiting his name for political purposes. Deepak Sharma added that he feels someone is trying to trap him.

When we questioned him about the viral footage of the injured in the temple, Deepak Sharma said that it was not possible for him to examine every area of the temple. He added that since the internet has been suspended in Nuh it was not possible for him to acquire the viral videos of the violence that took place inside the temple otherwise he could have examined those and clarified.

Sharma acknowledged hearing loud sounds of bullets being fired from the hills surrounding the temple on three sides.

The conversation OpIndia had with Deepak Sharma made it evidently clear that the left-liberal media used a half-unfinished statement of the priest, who did not come outside the temple at all when the violence took place, to propagate their narrative.

Moreover, a 21-second video cannot show the extent of the anti-Hindu riots that were unleashed by the radical Muslim mob in Nuh, Haryana.

Nevertheless, in the video where the Lallantop reporter shared the extent of the damage, he categorically said the attack appeared pre-planned. The likes of Zubair and The Wire, however, appeared to have missed the point completely in a hurry to save the Islamic mob that pelted stones and fired on Hindu devotees.

Meanwhile, the situation is currently returning to normal as paramilitary ITBP personnel are stationed in and around the Nalhar temple in Nuh, Haryana.