Yusuf Ansari
New Delhi, March 6, 2020: A week after grim stories are being uncovered from hospitals, mortuaries, and police stations, it seems there is no end to misery for Muslims affected by the northeast Delhi riots.
Muslim families who are already shaken by the worst communal violence in decades in the Capital have more to suffer as ground reports from the areas affected by violence suggest Hindu landlords and shopkeepers do not want to rent or sell the property to Muslims in these localities.
Residents from the Muslim community of Shiv Vihar, Bhagirathi Vihar and Khajuri Khas who are now returning to their homes say that they are being outright denied from renting owning residential spaces by the area’s Hindu housekeepers and owners. What is worse is, the local police are refusing to register such complaints.
One such case is from Shiv Vihar that was torched and attacked by rioters on the night of February 24. During this rampage, rioters not only burnt down houses belonging to Muslims, but also looted their shops. Whereas, the houses and shops owned by Hindus were safe from any damage or theft except for the portions that were rented to Muslims in these property holdings. Initially, the residents from Shiv Vihar whose houses were burnt had taken refuge in Mustafabad. They then moved inside the transit camps built within the Eidgah.
Such well planned and schematic manner of violence only in Muslims pockets brings has more to it than what meets the eye. Muslims have lost their lives and property but they now face deeper social isolation once they engage in rebuilding and rehabilitation.
Added to this is the trauma they carry of the scenes and images they carry from the riots that will haunt them forever. The residents whose houses have been burnt down, do not want to go back to these localities because their trust in their neighbors and police are not completely shattered.
Those who lived in rented houses owned by Hindus, tried to return but were instantly refused. The only one thing they were allowed for was to take back their belongings – the little of what remained from being burnt or desecrated.
When they tried to approach police regarding this social isolation, the police took no interest in filing any report or taking any action for the same. Devastated, they returned to the relief camps.
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