Muzaffarnagar aftermath: A locked house, a grieving family, police, paramilitary and army | |
| |
 Police at the entrance of Kawal village, Muzaffarnagar district. The village has seen heavy police presence since the August 27 triple murders. Photo: Vikram Sharma/India Today Shahnawaz Qureishi, 25, a small-time cloth hawker from the village, was allegedly murdered by two youth -- Sachin, 24, and Gaurav, 18 -- for sexually harassing their sister. Watch the slideshow of the village The two youngsters, who lived in Malikpur barely two kilometres away, were lynched by Muslim villagers of Kawal. The murders triggered off riots elsewhere in the district but the village of approximately 12,000 people has not known any disruption since August 27. A peace committee, formed in the village a week ago, now meets every day; a small group of villagers walks behind a youngster dressed as Lord Hanuman, signals the start of Ramlila festivities. The village, which is evenly divided among Hindus and Muslims, is calm. It is a calm enforced by personnel in khaki and olive green fatigues. Hundreds of police personnel stand guard even as military flag marches that kick up dust clouds through the narrow village bylanes. A Superintendent of Police from Ghaziabad sits in the control room that functions out of an abandoned house and engages the villagers in light banter over tea and biscuits. Out of sight from the policemen, villagers whisper about anti-social elements in their midst who brutally murdered the boys. Shahnawaz's family fled the village fearing retaliation around a week back. They haven't returned so far even to claim the Rs 10-lakh compensation being offered by the tehsildar. The family home, a single-room brick dwelling in Hussainpura mohalla on the village outskirts, stands locked. Work has also stopped on the two-room concrete home the Qureishis were building for themselves on an adjacent plot. Shahnawaz was a small cloth trader who frequently plied his wares in Bangalore and Chennai. Two kilometres down a narrow dirt path, the tiny village of Malikpur silently mourns its dead sons. The incessant cawing of crows at sundown is the only sound. Bishan Singh, 45, a sugarcane farmer, lost his son Sachin and his sister's son Gaurav, a student of 12th standard. He now sits with other male members of his family on charpoys outside the family home, greeting visitors who drop by to offer condolences. Two policemen sit on chairs, AK-47s on their laps, fanning themselves in the enervating heat. There is only one happy face there. Sachin's son Gagan, 2, gurgles, laughs and darts around the charpoys. "He keeps asking for his father," says Bishan Singh. "I don't know what to tell the boy." |
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/muzaffarnagar-aftermath-locked-house-policemen-uttar-pradesh/1/309364.html
Muzaffarnagar violence: Over 10,000 displaced; 10,000 arrested
Muzaffarnagar riots: Akhilesh warns of strict action
RELATED
LUCKNOW: Five days after communal violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar, the western UP district and the adjoining areas remained on the edge. Although no fresh violence was reported on Wednesday, more than 10,000 people have been displaced after the violence that claimed 38 lives since Saturday. Based on feedback received from the local administrations, however, the administration lifted curfew in the riot-affected areas from 12 noon to 5 pm on Wednesday.
"A staggering 10,000 — mostly poor villagers — have been displaced in the communal flare-up, some of who have found their way to ten state relief camps," said UP home secretary Kamal Saxena. The official number of the injured is 93, with at least three serious cases. A missing persons' cell is being run from IG Meerut Zone's office, on helpline number: 9454402574, where families can register complaints.
Though things appear calm, it'll be a while before the communal flames fanned in Muzaffarnagar are doused. A person who had hid 41 cartridges of AK-47 was arrested from a place of worship, said ADG Arun Kumar. Despite Army presence, skirmishes were reported from Baghpat — where stone-pelters were restrained said IG, STF, Ashish Gupta — and from Unnao, Bulandshahr, Bahraich and Bijnor. Police had made 10,000 preventive arrests till Wednesday, confiscated 2,000 arms and lodged 7 cases under the National Security Act.
![]()
Police said DVDs and CDs of the maha-panchayat remain in circulation and have surfaced in east and central UP as well. The hunt for BJP MLA Sangeet Som and 228 others for distributing the malicious morphed video of the Sialkot riots continues. The police plan bulk SMSes to counter rumour-mongering. Gupta said fly-by-night computer centres making the CDs are on their radar as well.
On Wednesday, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered free medical aid to riot-affected persons and directed administrative officials to ready a list of affected persons. The government also , handed out ex gratia payments of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively to families of the deceased and injured.
"A staggering 10,000 — mostly poor villagers — have been displaced in the communal flare-up, some of who have found their way to ten state relief camps," said UP home secretary Kamal Saxena. The official number of the injured is 93, with at least three serious cases. A missing persons' cell is being run from IG Meerut Zone's office, on helpline number: 9454402574, where families can register complaints.
Though things appear calm, it'll be a while before the communal flames fanned in Muzaffarnagar are doused. A person who had hid 41 cartridges of AK-47 was arrested from a place of worship, said ADG Arun Kumar. Despite Army presence, skirmishes were reported from Baghpat — where stone-pelters were restrained said IG, STF, Ashish Gupta — and from Unnao, Bulandshahr, Bahraich and Bijnor. Police had made 10,000 preventive arrests till Wednesday, confiscated 2,000 arms and lodged 7 cases under the National Security Act.
Police said DVDs and CDs of the maha-panchayat remain in circulation and have surfaced in east and central UP as well. The hunt for BJP MLA Sangeet Som and 228 others for distributing the malicious morphed video of the Sialkot riots continues. The police plan bulk SMSes to counter rumour-mongering. Gupta said fly-by-night computer centres making the CDs are on their radar as well.
On Wednesday, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered free medical aid to riot-affected persons and directed administrative officials to ready a list of affected persons. The government also , handed out ex gratia payments of Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively to families of the deceased and injured.