Faizabad: Life in riot-hit city during Eid, an exclusive report

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The one-sided clash in Faizabad riot that had erupted in the evening of October 24 has dampened the Eid ul-Adha spirits of local Muslims. To avoid further tension, community leaders preferred to offer prayer in mosques that too without loudspeakers.

OKHLATIMES was the first to report about the incident. (Some Jamia residents fret over report of riot in Faizabad; shops burnt)

After high-pitch sloganeering on Friday, some Muslims after consultation with the administration decided not to offer Eid prayer at the iconic city Eidgah, according to residents.

Riot dampens Eid spirits
Besides, many had hard times with the slaughter house being sealed.

Those who had made early arrangements could manage to sacrifice their animals at home otherwise many continue to wait for the curfew to relax, said Arshad Ikram, whose relatives are in Faizabad.

Though he resides in Jamia Nagar but he and others like him are keeping themselves update about the development in their home city. “Things may improve today as I have heard that curfew will be relaxed in the main town,” he said.

Business hit hard
With the clash taking place just a few days before Eid that is on Durga Puja, the festive business season has been hit hard with the minority community at the receiving end. Nearly 40 shops were set on fire. Confirming this fact, Sate Congress president and MP from Ayodhya Dr. Nirmal Khatri told the media that shops of Muslim community were singled out for arson.

The situation in Faizabad that witnessed the riot for the first time since Independence is being debated on social networking sites, including Facebook. Mohammad Saifullah posted this message on his page: Irfan A Engineer, All India Secular Forum: “We condemn the attack…the office of Aapki Takat and shops of Muslims in Faizabad.

“On October 24, when the immersion procession of Durga was going on, a girl was molested by a few miscreants. Making this as a pretext a few people started stone throwing in the nearby areas. A rumour also spread in Faizabad that Muslims are doing the stone throwing. The mob went on to burn shops of Muslim traders. They went on rampage."

In an article submitted by Feroze Mithiborwala in  arkitectindia@yahoogroups.com ,  author Sandeep Pandey wrote that symbol of communal harmony in Faizabad attacked. "The editor of daily Aap ki Taqat Manzar Mehdi thinks he was targetted because he runs a newspaper which is critical of the politics of communalism. He happens to be the president of Urdu Press Association and attracts 80 per cent of advertisements for his newspaper from establishments run by Hindus. He also runs a 'Guldasta Society' which organises a human chain every January 26 for promoting communal harmony. Hence, targetting him also means that saner voices will be silenced."

Pre-planned attack
The Facebook post further mentioned: “According to local activist Yugal Kishore Sharan Shastri, this was a pre-planned attack.  ..This is an attempt to silence the voice of peace. The police took long time to reach the spot and did not intervene effectively. Similarly the fire brigade also took four hours to reach, by which time the shops were totally destroyed.” Lucknow Range IG Subhash Chandra told reporters that the exact reason behind the violence is not yet known and efforts are on to identify those who incited the mobs from both sides.

The worst hit areas included Chowk, Rikabganj and Bhandarsa. To contain the situation from spiraling further, young chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced that the victims would be fully compensated. 

Riot after riot
However, many blame the administration for failing to contain such riots. Since taking over as CM of UP on March 15, the state has been rocked by nine communal riots small one indeed. It appears that unlike his predecessor Mayawati whose regime was almost riot-free, Akhilesh Yadav has little control over officials and struggling to control the situation.

“With two important festivals, Eid ul-Adha and Durga Puja, just a few days ago the government would have deployed more forces in the area to keep trouble makers away. But this didn’t happen. It is the outsiders who are creating trouble in the city that once was a peaceful place. Besides, the police too didn’t act tough against marauders who were involved in arsons and loot,” said Ikram.

It was only after Friday night that the police swung into action that too after the deployment of CRPF, he said. Right now what Muslims need is relaxation in curfew so that they could at least fulfill their religious obligations properly, he added.

Let’s hope that normalcy returns fast to the city.

CAPTION: Photo of Faizabad riot via navbharattimes