Muslims return, only to rush back

All it took was a crude explosion in a bylane of Delol village in Kalol taluka, 60 km from Vadodara, to send the only two Muslim families wh...

All it took was a crude explosion in a bylane of Delol village in Kalol taluka, 60 km from Vadodara, to send the only two Muslim families who had dared to return around two months ago packing.

The July 17 motorcycle blast not only killed three members of the majority community, it also shattered the trust of 3,000-odd Hindus in the two Muslim families of Abdul Ibrahim and Siraj Kansara, sending them back to the comparatively safer bylanes of a Muslim-dominated locality in the adjoining Kalol township.

8216;8216;I was assured by officials and some neighbours in May that I should return to the village and nobody would harm me. And we never faced any problems till last week8217;s blast,8217;8217; recounts Abdul who has shifted to a relative8217;s place in Kalol following the blast.

8216;8216;I was warned by a Hindu neighbour that the villagers suspected the blast to be an act of revenge so I should run away,8217;8217; he adds. Siraj says he had to leave through the back door to avoid being targeted.

Delol8217;s Hindu villagers are certain that the blast was the handiwork of Muslims affected in the communal violence. 8216;8216;Otherwise, why would any outsider want to target this village?8217;8217; questions a Hindu shopkeeper. 8216;8216;You cannot trust them. They can strike again,8217;8217; he alleges.

The apprehension that has set in the majority community in Kalol taluka is being seen as a fallout of killings and loot of Muslim properties during the post-Godhra communal violence. Officially, 23 Muslims were killed in the violence though the relief committee members peg the number at 65.

As per police records, 41 people are still missing in the village. 8216;8216;Though no one from this village was involved in the killing, they Muslims have a reason to hit back,8217;8217; remarks a panchayat member of Mhelol village which witnessed a scooter blast the same day as Delol though there were no casualties.

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8216;8216;Suspicion is so deeply rooted that any violent act is seen as a sinister revenge action by Muslims,8217;8217; laments chief organiser of relief in Kalol taluka, Mukhtar Mohammad.