“We have no gas at home and the serviceman is refusing to come because of this violence,” the wife complained. Her youngest son has a Sankrit final exam of Class 7 and one of her three daughters is due to take her English Class 10 board exams soon.
Atif’s* claims, of his car being burnt were confirmed here when the father said that Hindus had, in fact, burnt the car. His house is located on the road where the violence was unfolding.
Talking about how the violence began, he said, while they weren’t sure which side threw the first stone, the violence began after men from Hindu right-wing groups raised provocative slogans. “People are angry that they’ve closed the road. So Hindus sat at the Babarpur chowk and said they will move only after Jaffrabad protesters moved. That is when right-wing groups merged and started saying Jai Shri Ram and other things,” he said.
These conversations were interrupted by the bang of the teargas, what appeared to be gunshots, and stones being hurled into their courtyard. Several times when the crowd ran inside the bylane, the doors had to be closed and everyone came rushing into the safety of the room.