This is an archive article published on October 27, 2014
A few leave, most stay locked in
A day after the clashes in Trilokpuri, fear loomed over Muslim families who remained while some left, saying they would not be back till peace returned to the area. Scores of houses in Muslim-dominated blocks were padlocked on Sunday and neighbours testified to families having left their homes to take shelter with relatives living in […]
A day after the clashes in Trilokpuri, fear loomed over Muslim families who remained while some left, saying they would not be back till peace returned to the area.
Scores of houses in Muslim-dominated blocks were padlocked on Sunday and neighbours testified to families having left their homes to take shelter with relatives living in other parts of Delhi and beyond.
Tarana Khan, who is staying put, says her garment shop in Trilokpuri’s Block 27, was burnt down on Saturday evening by a group of eight Hindu men. “The family was out for a wedding in Uttar Pradesh when our neighbours informed us about the incident. When we rushed back, we made frantic calls to the fire control room but they did not respond,” Tarana said.
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Her farther, Israr Khan, said he stood waiting outside Mayur Vihar police station for hours. “The police tell me to wait till tomorrow and refuse to file a complaint. I need compensation for my shop. Innocent people’s shops have been attacked,” said Israr, a retired government employee.
In Block 15, an eerie silence hung over deserted roads and lanes. Ruksar briskly walked past watchful policemen and waited for an autorickshaw at a distance. She looked around before revealing where she was going.
“I am leaving for Meerut, where my sister-in-law lives. It is not safe here. I do not know when I will be back,” said the 30-year-old.
Ruksar finally found an auto and fled for her brother’s house in Anand Vihar as a fist stop. She said her husband left home on Saturday afternoon when the police were searching houses and rounding up men they suspected to be perpetrators.
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However, residents in the Muslim-dominated Block 27 claimed only the people who lived as tenants have left. “It’s only those who lived as tenants have left. People who own their houses have locked themselves in,” said Laeeqh, who owns a house here.
Another local, Shahab, said many Muslim families, including his own, left on Friday and Saturday. He said most number of families have left from Blocks 15, 20, and 27, where clashes were reported to be the most intense.
“We have to pay the price for rumours spread by miscreants. This is what happens all the time,” he said ruefully.
Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies.
With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health.
His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award.
Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time.
Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More
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