While Millennium Post tried to unearth the root cause behind the communal violence that lasted for at least more than three days, it was learnt that a certain ‘Mata ki Chowki’ was arranged for Dussehra which was supposed to last for a month.
‘The shopkeepers of Block 21, owned by a particular community were instructed not to throw garbage near the ‘Mata ki Chowki’, at least for a month,’ a resident requesting anonymity said.
But the shopkeepers continued to throw garbage including vegetables, slaughterhouse waste, food and other items at the road side, opposite to where the chowki had been set up, he added. On the first day when they saw the garbage, they again humbly requested not to throw it but it was ignored point blank.
In the recent past, after Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the concerned authorities have removed the garbage from the area. Few days later, the locals and the shopkeepers began throwing the waste at the roadside again and did not stop even after repeated requests.
There were severe arguments between the two communities even in regard to this. The tension was brewing and situation went out of control on Diwali night.
The shopkeepers then started demanding to slow down the volume of the kirtans being held at the chowki. Also few others asked to change the place of worship as a mosque was barely 50 steps away from the chowki. But the other community refused to budge and continued to worship there.
‘Later, on the day of Diwali, severe clashes broke out after various versions of locals came up alleging that stones were thrown at the mosque while the other version said that prayers at the Mata ki Chowki were disrupted. The situation turned worse and took a communal colour, said Ramesh, a local at Trilokpuri.
‘Battle lines were drawn and people came to the streets to take each others lives,’ Imtiaz, a resident of block 20 said.
‘The shopkeepers of Block 21, owned by a particular community were instructed not to throw garbage near the ‘Mata ki Chowki’, at least for a month,’ a resident requesting anonymity said.
But the shopkeepers continued to throw garbage including vegetables, slaughterhouse waste, food and other items at the road side, opposite to where the chowki had been set up, he added. On the first day when they saw the garbage, they again humbly requested not to throw it but it was ignored point blank.
In the recent past, after Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the concerned authorities have removed the garbage from the area. Few days later, the locals and the shopkeepers began throwing the waste at the roadside again and did not stop even after repeated requests.
There were severe arguments between the two communities even in regard to this. The tension was brewing and situation went out of control on Diwali night.
The shopkeepers then started demanding to slow down the volume of the kirtans being held at the chowki. Also few others asked to change the place of worship as a mosque was barely 50 steps away from the chowki. But the other community refused to budge and continued to worship there.
‘Later, on the day of Diwali, severe clashes broke out after various versions of locals came up alleging that stones were thrown at the mosque while the other version said that prayers at the Mata ki Chowki were disrupted. The situation turned worse and took a communal colour, said Ramesh, a local at Trilokpuri.
‘Battle lines were drawn and people came to the streets to take each others lives,’ Imtiaz, a resident of block 20 said.