“Our children’s admit cards had not even been sent,” said a tearful Neetu Chaudhary, as she surveyed the charred remains of Arun Modern Pub...
“Our children’s admit cards had not even been sent,” said a tearful Neetu Chaudhary, as she surveyed the charred remains of Arun Modern Public Senior Secondary School. “They have destroyed all records from 1986.”
The school was established in 1986. It is located in Brijpuri, at the entrance to Mustafabad, a locality in North East Delhi which saw widespread violence and arson on February 25. According to Kasim Zaid, the school’s physical education teacher, it was set alight around 4-5 pm in the evening of February 25.
“We got to know last evening that there was a large crowd from Mustafabad-Brijpuri,” said Zaid. The school, which has about 750 students, both Hindu and Muslim, was deserted at that time, save a lone security guard posted outside the locked front gate. According to the staff, the mob broke in from the third floor terrace.
“There’s a mosque at the back of the school,” said Zaid. “From there, they climbed the terrace and broke in. A mob does not see if it’s a school or not.” Zaid thought the rioters were local residents of Brijpur and Mustafabad, he could not say which community.
But Chaudhary, the school cashier, was emphatic: “Mohammedans have done this.”
The same evening,...
