Headlines
Atali village: Muslims back, not welcome
Atali (Haryana), June 5
The eerie calm in
violence-torn Atali village in Haryana's Ballabhgarh district at the
edge of Delhi threatens to explode into another round of clashes if not
for the presence of 2,000 Rapid Action Force and Haryana Police
personnel.
The Jat villagers are unrepentant about the violence
and clearly say that the Muslims can leave the village if they feel
unsafe.
Tempers continue to simmer 10 days after communal
violence between Muslims villagers and the majority Jats broke out over
an under-construction mosque.
The Jat villagers also assert
that they will not allow the mosque to be built at the present site.
They have also suggested an alternative site for a mosque close to a
section of the village where Muslims are concentrated.
"If they
don't feel like staying here, they can go. But we will not allow the
mosque to be built here," said Pawan Singh (25), a student and local
resident, who spoke to IANS.
Agreed his friend, Ratan Chaudhary, 22, who accused the Muslim villagers of playing the victim card.
"Initially,
it was just a piece of land, but we allowed them to build a temporary
structure with tin roofs. Now they wanted a three-storey mosque there
despite the reservations of the majority community. Instead of
adjusting they are playing victims," he said.
Located about 9 km
from Faridabad in Haryana and a little over 40 km from Delhi, the
village, which boasts of digital electricity metres, piped gas supply
and satellite TV, has become a smoldering cauldron of communal tension
between the majority Jat community, and minority Muslims who are
literally under siege.
Of the 150 Muslim villagers who have
returned to their homes following assurance of protection by the local
authorities, many have left their children with relatives in
neighbouring villages and were reluctant to stay in Atali if prohibitory
order that refrains people from gathering at any place was revoked.
"We
have come here to take stock of the damage done to our house. We will
spend the night here and see what tomorrow has in store for us. We
don't feel safe here anymore," Salma, a mother of four told IANS.
"I've
left my three children at my brother's place in the neighbouring
village and my husband and I are thinking about moving there
permanently as well," added the 42-year-old who lives in a crammed,
single-storey house overseeing the site where the mosque was being
constructed.
Similar thoughts were expressed by her neighbour,
Nanno Khatun, a 56-year-old who returned home with only one of her four
sons and his family.
"As of now, my son, his wife and two
children and I have dared to come back as rest of my family is still in
shock and doesn't want to enter this village.
"We have been
here for two days and none of our neighbours have talked to us. Bonds
that were formed over decades have been severed forever," said a teary
eyed Nanno, as she tightly clutched her six-year-old granddaughter.
And
it seemed, the children were the worst affected by the violence, left
scarred and traumatised as they recalled their loved ones being
attacked with rods, sticks and broken glass bottles.
Twelve-year-old
Aman Ali, doesn't know how old he is, but clearly remembers that his
chacha (uncle) was chased by a mob of angry villagers who attacked him
with bricks and sticks.
"I saw him running down the street from
the balcony. He was shouting and crying for help. The mob had sticks
and broken glass bottles in their hands," said Ali with a lump in his
voice as he refused to look up, continually staring at the broken floor
of his house, parts of which were covered in soot.
Some of the
villagers have also turned against the local legislator Tek Chand
Sharma of the Bahujan Samaj Party who, according to reports, had met
and apologised to the Muslims who had taken shelter in the compound of
the Ballabhgarh police station.
"Who is he to apologise on our
behalf? He is not even from our caste. We will choose our own Jat
leader if we feel the need to talk to them (Muslims)," Chaudhary said,
adding a few abusive words alluding to the legislator's caste.
The
violence that began on May 25 and continued for three days, despite a
police order banning any public gathering, left in its wake more than
400 Muslim villagers homeless, burnt houses and shops.
(Rahul Vaishnavi can be contacted at [email protected])