Shafeek K.P and Sreekanth Sivadasan
When Madina Masjid in Northeast Delhi was attacked, “People called police for help, but received abuses”. Umer recalls how his friends and him managed to escape the angry ‘Jai Shri Ram’ chanting mob by running on to the terrace of a mosque, he was visibly traumatized and in tears. “The police hurled abuses at us. They came here after three days.” Umer didn’t say anything more. Our team happened to meet a 14 year old local resident of the riot hit locality of North East Delhi, Umer on the terrace of one of the many mosques which were vandalized and burnt. He was playing with his friends on the street when the rioters reached his locality.
Between the night of 23 February 2020 until 26 February 2020, the capital of the nation saw one of the worst communal riots in decades while the US President, Donald Trump was on his first state visit to India. The police state that the riots claimed the lives of 53 people, with over 200 injured. Thousands of families forced to flee and are now living in makeshift relief camps.
Many pictures and videos surfaced from the riots where Muslim houses and mosques were exclusively targeted and attacked by Hindutva mobs. In one such videos, a rioter is seen climbing on top of a mosque’s minaret, breaks the symbolic Islamic Crescent and replaces it with a saffron flag, which is synonymous with the extreme right wing Hindutva group. Empty liquor bottles have also been found, suggesting the use of petrol bombs. Leaders of the Sangh Parivar, a broad term used to refer to the Hindutva organisations, claim that no mosques were vandalized during the riots in North East Delhi.
On 6 March, the Muslim residents returned to their localities, many for the first time after fleeing, to offer the customary Friday prayer. The prayers were conducted on rooftops or the upper floors of different mosques. The lower floors have been rendered useless due to rampant looting, vandalism, and arson. Photos from Farooqiya Masjid, Auliya Masjid and Madina Masjid in Nortn East Delhi taken on 6 March 2020 by Sreekanth Sivdasan
