As Sabir Ali met harsh fate in Charkhi Dadri, 2 others barely survived vigilante violence

In Hansawas Khurd, there are three fields where migrant Muslim families from Assam live in shanties made of plastic. Between two fields stood a police vehicle, stationed there to provide security to the migrants after the lynching incident.

The migrant families used to pick rags for a living but have stopped it out of fear since the lynching incident. “We are not relatives of Sabir, but even we were troubled,” Zoya (name changed), one of the residents of these shanties, told indianexpress.com. “Around 7 pm on August 26, a man came, asked us about our native place and Aadhaar card, etc.”

The next morning, Zoya said, when she and others went to work, her neighbour Aijaz (name changed) was at home with his family. “We were not at home. Around 15-20 men came and started thrashing Aijaz with sticks on suspicion that he had consumed cow meat. He told them that they had eaten buffalo meat, but these men did not listen,” she said.

Fear was such that Zoya, Aijaz and all the other people who live there did not return to work after August 27. A scared Aijaz had to stay in a police station for three days.

In the second field, around 11 people live and make a living by picking rags, earning about Rs 500-Rs 700 a day, according to Javed (name changed), a migrant.

“Around 10.30 am on August 27, we started receiving calls from our relatives that a group of people was checking our food. So we calmed them down and told them that we are on our way back. We were around 18-19 km away from our homes,” he said.

Only Asiruddin, Javed’s uncle, was at home when vigilantes raided their shanties. “The police called us for an inquiry. Asiruddin had also gone to work, but the mob picked him up from there and brought to our house. At that time, we were at the police station,” Javed added.

Javed further said that he and others got to know at the police station that Asiruddin and Sabir Ali had been brutally beaten up. Asiruddin is undergoing treatment at a Delhi hospital, according to Javed.

Police calm the waters

Javed said there are about 15 police vehicles to ensure the migrant families’ security.

Since the victims have not been able to go back to work, the police are helping them with food and other necessities, a police source told indianexpress.com.

“This district has always been peaceful. Communal harmony exists here. One incident has tainted the image of Charkhi Dadri,” the police source said, adding that villagers had gathered to help the victims at the time of the lynching.

“Irrespective of caste and religion, everybody in the village here sympathises with the victims and wants justice. We will ensure that none of the perpetrators get spared,” the police source said.

‘Sab chale gaye, sirf jhopdi bachi hai’

Javed said that all the migrant families are thinking of returning to their native places. “Since that day of violence, we have not gone back to work. We are thinking of returning to Assam. However, we cannot go until the report on the meat sample arrives,” he added.

Pawan Kumar, husband of the village’s sarpanch, and Kartar Singh, panch, confirmed that all the 25 people from West Bengal and Assam had left the area. “Everyone of them has left,” Kumar said.

“Ek hafte se zyada ho gya, wo sab chale gaye. Ab sirf jhopdi bachi hain. Baaki sab chale gaye, (It has been more than a week since everyone left. Now only their shanties remain),” Singh said.