Bisada residents fed up with media intrusion

Apart from politicians, residents of neighbouring villages are also thronging the area and media personnel have stationed their teams 24x7 with OB (Outside Broadcasting) vans. 

The once anonymous village now looks like a tourist spot and villagers are irritated due to frequent and unending interference in their lives. After the incident came to light last Tuesday, local leaders started visiting the victim’s family, followed by  a huge media deployment. 

“We are compelled to shoo them away as whenever we come out of our homes they rush to us with camera and microphones. As the issue was afresh, everybody was curious to know the details. But it has now become irritating,” said Geeta, a 34-year-old  woman in the village. 

Fed up with regular interference, women residents staged a protest in the village on Saturday and even forced media persons to retreat.

“They were tracking our each and every movement. We have requested with folded hands not to intrude in our lives. We have told them whatever we knew, but they are adamant. So, we decided to protest,” said Savitri, a neighbour of the victim’s family. 

The villagers are also irritated with media personnel ‘interrogating’ them in search of carrying exclusive stories.

“There was no riot. The mob misconceived and  attacked a family, after rumor of them consuming beef spread. There are around over three dozen families in the area, but they did not attack anyone,” said Sameer Khan, 14, who was standing with some Hindu youngsters even after the tension gripped the village. 

Mohammad Haneef (50), a friend of deceased Akhlaq stressed that Muslims in the area do not slaughter cows as they know it is sacred for Hindus.

The visit of high-profile politicians, which started with Brinda Karat of Communist Party of India on Thursday was followed by Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, local MP and Union Minister for Tourism Mahesh Sharma and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday and BJP leader Sangeet Som on Sunday. 

However, even after being criticised on social media over the <g data-gr-id="38">Muyzaffarnagar</g> riots, the state government has stated that there is no need to stop any leader from visiting the place.