Northeast Delhi violence: Govt opens shelter homes, people prefer to leave for relatives’ place

Caretaker Rajesh Thakur said, “No one has come here on Friday. I will go outside the emergency ward and the mortuary to tell people that this facility is available to them.”

At the Shastri Park shelter, around 20 mattresses with green bedsheets were placed on the floor and blankets kept in a corner. Caretaker Karan said, “We vacated the shelter in the morning by sending the occupants to another shelter. But so far, no one affected by the communal violence has come here. We are waiting for them. I am telling everyone I see on the road to let those without homes know that this one is open to them 24×7.”

He said that since there was violence so close to the shelter, there was a drinking water problem as the vendor has stopped coming there. “I bought water for Rs 60 with my own money today. Even if the victims come, what will we do about the water?” he said.

However, many families have left their homes and moved in with relatives and friends in other areas. Among them is a 65-year-old man in Yamuna Vihar, who watched Monday afternoon a mob of 20 people setting fire to parked vehicles. At 5 pm, two hours after the incident, the man hurriedly packed suitcases and left with his family of three. “I have moved to a relative’s house in Southeast Delhi’s Okhla. It was terrifying, they broke everything… I am just thankful they didn’t burn the house down. My car was parked a little far away so we left,” he claimed.

Similar stories came from families who hail from Kabir Nagar, Chand Bagh, Brijpuri, Maujpur, Shiv Vihar and Yamuna Vihar.

Around 22 km away at the Shaheen Bagh protest sit-in, many women said they had received SOS calls from relatives in riot-hit areas.

“My aunt’s family has temporarily moved from their Shiv Vihar house to a relative’s place in Loni. They have a special needs child and old parents so they felt the need to leave. A neighbour told them that soon after they left, their home was attacked,” claimed Rubina (23), a protester at Shaheen Bagh.

Another protester, Bano (50), said she received a call from a relative in Chand Bagh that their bike shop had been set on fire, and they had temporarily moved out.

In Kabir Nagar, Dilshad Ansari (50) tried his best to stop his landlord from leaving for a relative’s house in UP Tuesday morning.

The Indian Express witnessed Ansari’s garment shop being damaged by young men wielding sticks and rods on Monday evening. He said, “Woh apna ghar mere havale chhor ke chale gaye hain… We want to leave too but where will I go with such a big family? We are 10 people, who will accommodate us?”

(Inputs from Sukrita Baruah)