NEW DELHI: Days and nights of unrelenting rioting in the Indian capital have damaged not only homes and business, but also a tenuously maintained communal harmony. The violence reveal the marked polarisation of Indian society and make some wonder if tolerance is truly possible.
In the wake of the worst episode of sectarian violence in the Indian capital in decades, fear and suspicion have gripped Delhi's residents, many of whom are too afraid to return to their homes they fled even as they stare at an uncertain future.
India's principal city has brought into sharp focus the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, among the deepest fault lines in Indian society, sullying the image of a country that prides itself on being a tolerant, secular nation with diversity as its strength.
Telltale signs of the unprecedented rioting still remain: The acrid smell of smoke, hundreds of burnt vehicles, shattered glass from shops, and broken bricks and stones line long stretches of roads.
What had began as small clashes between opponents and backers of a controversial citizenship law last week quickly spiralled into full-blown riots between Hindus and Muslims.
The deadly violence swept through the Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas, Maujpur, Shiv Vihar, Mustafabad, Jaffrabad and Bhajanpura localities.
Some are Muslim majority, some are predominantly Hindu, others are mixed neighbourhoods where they live side by side: These working-class neighbourhoods on the city’s fringes, which are usually busy and teeming with people, have turned into ghost towns.
Shiv Vihar and Mustafabad were among the worst-hit areas, where Hindu mobs rioted with impunity as police appeared to look the other way.
At least 500 people who fled to nearby Indira Vihar are cramped in two huge halls arranged as a makeshift shelter by local Muslim residents.
As the bloodthirsty mobs reached their neighbourhood after midnight, 70-year-old Noor Mohammad and his wife Ramzano Begum hid with their family in a toilet of a vacant home nearby until they were taken to safety by paramilitary troopers in the wee hours of Tuesday.
"I have never seen such violence here in my life," Mohammad says. "We could hear heavy stone-pelting outside, loud banging of rods on doors and cries of Jai Shri Ram (Long Live Ram, a Hindu god). We died every minute that night."
Mohammad Tanveer also made it to the shelter with his wife and a 10-day old baby. He locked up his home, shut off all lights and spent two days in darkness. "I was fortunate that my home did not have a door nameplate, else the house would have been vandalized too."
"All we want is for peace to be restored so we can go home. But some who went back, have been threatened not to come there again. We are looking at an uncertain future."
Both Muslim and Hindu residents of the area blame local politicians for instigating and having links with the bloodshed. They claim "outsiders" and criminals were used to perpetrate the violence.
Barely two kilometres from Indira Vihar, in Chand Bagh and Khajuri Khas, scores of Hindu shops and homes were targeted and many injured and killed, including Ankit Sharma, an intelligence bureau staffer.
"His body was mutilated and found in a drain. He was attacked by a sword and later they threw acid on him," Sharma's sister Sonam said, sobbing as she blamed a local politician for the attack.
The Hindu Munga Nagar locality in Chand Bagh is surrounded by Muslim majority areas. Its youth have been targeted, and homes and shops attacked by stones. In response, a group of youth say that armed with wooden sticks, they guard the neighbourhood through the nights.
In the mixed neighbourhoods, wooden carts and wheelbarrows are piled up between streets at nights to prevent any intrusions or attacks.
For now, the communal violence has been quelled by the police, but given the continuing protests over the citizenship law, it is likely to erupt again, not just Delhi, but anywhere in India.
The law fast-tracks citizenship for members of religious communities from three neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims.
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that the law would not affect Indian citizens - Hindu or Muslim - but critics say it undermines India's secular constitution and Muslims fear it is a measure aimed at marginalizing them in Hindu-majority India.
"We played cricket in these lanes, celebrated Eid and Diwali together. Everyone wants peace to return. The wounds may heal, but the scars will remain. It will be difficult to rebuild relations to what we had," Chand Bagh resident Anil Chauhan said.
Do the Delhi riots mark a point of no return? Will they unravel forever the carefully stitched secular fabric of the world's largest democracy? There are flickers of hope in the little oases of calm that stood steadfast amid the deadly hate and destruction.
Barely metres away from where the riot first started in Chand Bagh is such a neighbourhood.
There was no arson and no one was injured. Muslims helped protect temples as well as homes and shops belonging to Hindus, who in turn said they would not let any Hindu attackers intrude their area.
"Here, the Hindu and Muslim stands together. When you are sensitive about others and protect others as your own. When everyone starts thinking like this and starts protecting their own areas, little by little, large areas will become secure," local Afzal Khan said.
"As long as we stand united, it is impossible to harm us. Everyone suffers in riots. Both Hindus and Muslims were injured, died, faced huge losses. We have to reject this politics of hate," another local, Brajmohan Sharma, said. - dpa/Asian News Network
In the wake of the worst episode of sectarian violence in the Indian capital in decades, fear and suspicion have gripped Delhi's residents, many of whom are too afraid to return to their homes they fled even as they stare at an uncertain future.
India's principal city has brought into sharp focus the conflict between Hindus and Muslims, among the deepest fault lines in Indian society, sullying the image of a country that prides itself on being a tolerant, secular nation with diversity as its strength.
Telltale signs of the unprecedented rioting still remain: The acrid smell of smoke, hundreds of burnt vehicles, shattered glass from shops, and broken bricks and stones line long stretches of roads.
What had began as small clashes between opponents and backers of a controversial citizenship law last week quickly spiralled into full-blown riots between Hindus and Muslims.
The deadly violence swept through the Chand Bagh, Khajuri Khas, Maujpur, Shiv Vihar, Mustafabad, Jaffrabad and Bhajanpura localities.
Some are Muslim majority, some are predominantly Hindu, others are mixed neighbourhoods where they live side by side: These working-class neighbourhoods on the city’s fringes, which are usually busy and teeming with people, have turned into ghost towns.
Shiv Vihar and Mustafabad were among the worst-hit areas, where Hindu mobs rioted with impunity as police appeared to look the other way.
At least 500 people who fled to nearby Indira Vihar are cramped in two huge halls arranged as a makeshift shelter by local Muslim residents.
As the bloodthirsty mobs reached their neighbourhood after midnight, 70-year-old Noor Mohammad and his wife Ramzano Begum hid with their family in a toilet of a vacant home nearby until they were taken to safety by paramilitary troopers in the wee hours of Tuesday.
"I have never seen such violence here in my life," Mohammad says. "We could hear heavy stone-pelting outside, loud banging of rods on doors and cries of Jai Shri Ram (Long Live Ram, a Hindu god). We died every minute that night."
Mohammad Tanveer also made it to the shelter with his wife and a 10-day old baby. He locked up his home, shut off all lights and spent two days in darkness. "I was fortunate that my home did not have a door nameplate, else the house would have been vandalized too."
"All we want is for peace to be restored so we can go home. But some who went back, have been threatened not to come there again. We are looking at an uncertain future."
Both Muslim and Hindu residents of the area blame local politicians for instigating and having links with the bloodshed. They claim "outsiders" and criminals were used to perpetrate the violence.
Barely two kilometres from Indira Vihar, in Chand Bagh and Khajuri Khas, scores of Hindu shops and homes were targeted and many injured and killed, including Ankit Sharma, an intelligence bureau staffer.
"His body was mutilated and found in a drain. He was attacked by a sword and later they threw acid on him," Sharma's sister Sonam said, sobbing as she blamed a local politician for the attack.
The Hindu Munga Nagar locality in Chand Bagh is surrounded by Muslim majority areas. Its youth have been targeted, and homes and shops attacked by stones. In response, a group of youth say that armed with wooden sticks, they guard the neighbourhood through the nights.
In the mixed neighbourhoods, wooden carts and wheelbarrows are piled up between streets at nights to prevent any intrusions or attacks.
For now, the communal violence has been quelled by the police, but given the continuing protests over the citizenship law, it is likely to erupt again, not just Delhi, but anywhere in India.
The law fast-tracks citizenship for members of religious communities from three neighbouring countries, but excludes Muslims.
India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that the law would not affect Indian citizens - Hindu or Muslim - but critics say it undermines India's secular constitution and Muslims fear it is a measure aimed at marginalizing them in Hindu-majority India.
"We played cricket in these lanes, celebrated Eid and Diwali together. Everyone wants peace to return. The wounds may heal, but the scars will remain. It will be difficult to rebuild relations to what we had," Chand Bagh resident Anil Chauhan said.
Do the Delhi riots mark a point of no return? Will they unravel forever the carefully stitched secular fabric of the world's largest democracy? There are flickers of hope in the little oases of calm that stood steadfast amid the deadly hate and destruction.
Barely metres away from where the riot first started in Chand Bagh is such a neighbourhood.
There was no arson and no one was injured. Muslims helped protect temples as well as homes and shops belonging to Hindus, who in turn said they would not let any Hindu attackers intrude their area.
"Here, the Hindu and Muslim stands together. When you are sensitive about others and protect others as your own. When everyone starts thinking like this and starts protecting their own areas, little by little, large areas will become secure," local Afzal Khan said.
"As long as we stand united, it is impossible to harm us. Everyone suffers in riots. Both Hindus and Muslims were injured, died, faced huge losses. We have to reject this politics of hate," another local, Brajmohan Sharma, said. - dpa/Asian News Network
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