Blame game ensues after communal riot in the run up to the Bihar assembly elections later in 2015
By Mudassir Rizwan, TwoCircles.net,
Muzaffarpur (Bihar): It is more than a week when neighbours turned enemy, when people who cohabited peacefully were left shocked by the hatred around in Azizpur-Bahilwara village, about 70 kms from state capital Patna.
Four people were burnt to death and about 56-odd houses torched on January 18 following the recovery of the body of a youth, allegedly abducted and killed over reported love affair with a girl from another community. An FIR has been lodged and five policemen have been suspended for dereliction of duty. Fourteen people have been arrested.
Salma Khatoon (right) with mother of Shamshul Mustafa (grandson of Salma Khatoon)
But all this has not been enough for people who have lost their dear ones and also those whose houses were destroyed in arson. During a visit to the village in the aftermath, TwoCircles.net found Salma Khatoon, 50.
Vividly recalling what happened on that fateful day, Salma says her husband Akhtar Hussain, 60, was pulled out of their home and despite repeated pleading the mob doused him with kerosene and torched him alive right outside their house using wooden gate and other combustible material from their courtyard. Salma and other family members, including one son and one grandson, were locked inside, she claimed, “And hence, we couldn’t do anything to save him.”
This was where Akhtar Hussain, 60, was allegedly burnt down by the rioting mob right behind his house (seen in the photo). He was one of the four killed during the riots.
Her horror did not end there. The mob came back later again, she claimed and this time, caught hold of her. “They pulled me out of our home, I was crying, pleading but to no avail. “In order to save my daughter-in-law, my son and the grandson, I stood near the gate and first allowed them to escape,” she said. Her son was chased by 10-odd mobsters and when they caught him, they beat him with lathis and bamboos. “Then Sathrughan Sahni (a Hindu Mallah/Fisherman) saved my child and sent him to police station.”
Her grandson (daughter’s son) Shamshul Mustafa, 18, was caught by about 15 people outside her house and burnt alive in a vehicle. Later, her house was burnt and she lost everything she had. Her husband left behind her along with their four sons, two daughter-in-laws and four grandsons. “But with the husband as only source of income, it has now become a question of survival for the family.”
Inside a burnt house in Azizpur village.
She claimed she got Rs five lakh as compensation for her husband’s death and Rs 4700 for utensils and other household items in lieu of her burnt house.
At least 14 people have been arrested in connection with the clashes between two communities. The incident took place on Sunday, January 18 in the minority community dominated Azizpur Bahilwara village. The trigger was recovery of the body of Bhartendu Sahni, 20, (from Mallah, fisherman community) allegedly abducted and killed for his love affair. He had been missing for 10 days before it. An FIR was registered Monday, January 19 against 12 named and 2,000 unidentified people, who were part of the mob that attacked the villagers.
Several things, including wooden cots, burnt right outside the mosque in Azizpur village.
Remains of the burnt insides of the mosque at the Azizpur-Bahilwara village. The rioters did not spare even the Holy Quraan.
The villagers have alleged that the rioting and arson continued for almost four hours – from 12 noon onwards – but police came very late. “We think police was stopped deliberately,” villagers said.
Soghra Khatoon, 55, lost her husband Mohammad Altaf, 60, and grandson Mohammad Pyare, 18, a class ninth student. “We were inside the house when the mob came and pulled out my husband. My grandson had in fact, managed to run across to nearby houses seeking help but they refused. While he was returning, he was caught. Both my husband and the grandson were brutally killed by the mob in front of us. My son was beaten up so badly, he felt unconscious. He is now at the hospital and recovering,” she said.
Soghra Khatoon (center) with her family
“This was the fully planned. I suspect they had planned since the 20-year-old went missing,” Soghra Khatoon said, adding “The houses around us are from the other community. We have always lived with them happily. But that day, even they did not save us.”
The family said they got Rs five lakh each for the two deaths and other help from the government.
Moving from house to house, the mob torched whatever the men could lay hands on. Wooden cots, household furniture, bamboo, grains stored in jute bags, nothing escaped and within hours, more than 50 houses – all belonging to Pasmanda community – were burnt completely rendering the survivor homeless in the brutal January cold.
Saeeda Khatoon standing outside her burnt house in Azizpur village.
Recounting the possible chain of events, Saeeda Khatoon said, one of her family members told that Sahni’s body (the youth killed over alleged affair) was found behind the house of one Wasi Dada. “When we went to our terrace to find out what the shouting was about, we saw people destroying everything, burning houses, looting goods and beating people. They were at least 500 initially.”
Her family came down from the terrace when few people from the mob entered their house. One of them, an old man, caught her daughter-in-law, who was holding her daughter and a briefcase in her hands. “He said he wanted to kill us when we pleaded him saying she was his daughter’s age. We offered him the briefcase instead. He took it and ran away,” she said, adding, “My daughter-in-law and I have seen that old man many times. If I see him again, I will identity him.”
Saeeda recalls how police had reached Wasi uncle’s house after Sahni had gone missing. Police had gone asking questions to others from the Mallah community about Sadaqat alias Vikky (brother of the girl alleged to be involved in the love affair). “That time, my neighbouring Mallah family had said Vikky is not that type of boy (so as to kill someone). And suppose, he had done it, how can he be a fool to leave the body half buried, half outside near the road that too near his own house. So I think this was fully planned attack. Sahni was killed somewhere and put here to destroy villagers of Azizpur, the Muslim community,” she reasoned.
Sarfaraz Alam
Echoed Sarfaraz Alam, “How is it possible that they kill the boy and put his body behind his house (Wasi Dada). This was a fool-proof plan. We are progressing and becoming successful. Not many are happy with it and it was a good time for them to destroy it.”
Remains of an exploded domestic gas cylinder at one of the houses in Azizpur village.
Alam’s bikes were burnt. Other peoples’ cars, tractors and other vehicles were burnt. Few domestic cylinders too were destroyed due to blast because of fire. Apart from rioting, arson and loot, the mob did not even spare the local mosque. Things inside the mosque, including the Holy Quran were burnt too.
Burnt motorcycle and tractor in Azizpur village.
Mohammad Ishaq, 60, said he was inside the mosque when it all started. Two people caught and handed him over to others. “When I saw the crowd swelling, I tried to run away in opposite direction. One Mallah Hindu woman shouted, ‘Kill all Muslims, Kill’. Raj Kishore, a dalit, gave me his cycle to save my life. Truth is, he was killed because we are neighbours. The scale of attack shows, it was all planned.”
Javed Ali
Javed Ali, 24, a labour working in West Bengal, had come to the village 20 days before. He had locked himself in his home with family members. The mob came inside after forcibly opening the door and then torched their house.
Saeeda, Roshan and Ali were lucky as no one from their families were killed. But their condition is no different than that of Salma and Soghra. Victims of hate born out of an alleged love affair, the villagers of Azizpur are stitching back their lives with the help that is pouring in from the state government, NGOs and individuals.
Related:
Muzaffarpur communal tension aftermath captured in lens
Bihar: Fourteen held in connection with Muzaffarpur village riots; situation under control