“We just want our lives back. Would a compromise get us that?” asked Zehra, visibly tired as she boiled tea on a makeshift stove on her ter...
“We just want our lives back. Would a compromise get us that?” asked Zehra, visibly tired as she boiled tea on a makeshift stove on her terrace. Her eyes were set on the white dome of Fatima Masjid in North East Delhi’s Khajuri Khas as she recounted her story.
“What do we do when we start fearing the same people who are supposed to protect us?” asked Zehra, whose name, like those of others in this article has been changed to protect her identity.
Nine months after the February 2020 communal violence in the area that left 53 people dead, 38 of whom were Muslim, and a few months after her burned house had been rebuilt by a local community organisation, her husband Ismail was detained by the police, Zehra said. He was the sole bread-earner of the family of seven.
The police alleged that Ismail had instigated violence during the riots, though they did not lodge an official complaint. The father of five and a government worker spent almost three weeks in prison.
Soon after the violence, Ismail had filed a complaint against his neighbours for being a part of the mob that burned down their house. This would help him receive his state-mandated compensation.
Ismail’s undocumented...
