New Delhi: Though communal tensions gripped Maujpur in Delhi, less than a kilometers away Babarpur village residents took the responsibility to keep hostility at bay and keep a sigil watch not to let anti-social elements disturb the harmony of the village.
When news of communal violence taking over Maujour locality reached Babarpur where Hindu, Muslim community residents live as neighbours the residents decided not to be provoked into senseless violence.
“On Monday, when news of stone-pelting emanated from Maujpur, senior citizens immediately called a meeting and asked the residents here not to allow outsiders entry into the village,” revealed resident Ajay Sharma.
“We also decided to nab any suspicious people and hand them over to the residents’ welfare association or the local police.”
Joining the conversation, Sharma’s neighbour and also childhood friend Waseem Khan said, “Some people claimed that Muslim houses were being targeted elsewhere in northeast Delhi and that we should join the protests. But we didn’t give heed to such talk, opting instead to say at home.”
The residents add despite cops continued patrolling the area, they took it upon themselves to take the rounds of the village in batches, especially at night.
“Our only objective was to keep goons or anti-socials away from our area. We were worried that the harmony shared by the people here would be affected by the presence of such people,” said another resident Desh Raj.
Communal Amity in Babarpur
Speaking of communal amity in Babarpur, Mohammed Imran disclosed how Hindu-Muslims partake in all the celebrations of the two communities, be it bhandara organised every year at the local temple or the distribution of dishes to Hindus prepared during the Eid celebration.
Mangu Singh affirmed that his Muslim landlord was very protective of his family.
“I saw a few tenants in my neighbourhood collecting stones to deal with any unforeseen incident, but I convinced them that no violence would take place here,” said Singh.
Muslims protected Mankameshwar Mandir
Amid this hatred, chaos, violence in Mustafabad, the spirit of communal amity was in evidence at the Mankameshwar Mandir that is surrounded by Muslim residents.
The Muslim community individuals stayed up the whole night to protect the Shiva temple from attacks by rioters. They also assisted Hindus employees of a sweet shop to leave the area when rioting broke out.
They recall as soon as reports of vandalism at a mosque in Ashok Vihar started being circulated, the residents became angry, “But we didn’t let anyone attack the temple,” said carpenter Mohammad Khalid.
“Most of those indulging in violence were people from outside our localities. It was our responsibility to make sure our Hindu brothers and sisters did not face hostility.”
Temple Priest applauds Muslims act
Harikant Sharma, the son of temple priest Indradev Shastri, commended the act of the local Muslims.
“It was the Muslims who ensured our safety and protected the temple,” he said, adding “Policemen were nowhere to be seen during all this, and if not for the locals we don’t know what could have happened.”
Another resident of Nan Nagri Mukesh who runs a sweet shop in Mustafabad, expressed his gratefulness at how the local Muslims helped him reach his home amidst all the chaos, violence.
“I have never seen anything like this before. I can’t even imagine how it all began,” said Mukesh.