Ground zero of riot: Kawal keen to shed communal tag

KAWAL

(

Muzaffarnagar

): Islam Qureshi remembers the embers that burnt for days after mobs burnt down shops and houses. "As if God wanted us to see what hatred can do," he says. "Peace has come at a great cost. We value

communal harmony

more than ever before."

At Kawal, a Muzaffarnagar village, an incident of harassment spiralled into one of India's deadliest riots in 2013. It left 63 dead and over 50,000 displaced. Today, Hindus and Muslims here are a chastened lot, most talk of brotherhood.

Many claim they'd prefer to keep both the BJP and the

SP-Congress

alliance at arm's length. The BJP they blame for starting the fire, the SP for not containing it. Qureshi, the husband of village head Naima Qureshi, says, "That incident gave us international notoriety. We must leave that stigma behind, if not for anything else, for our children."

Kawal has about 7,200 voters. Older residents here say they never had to deal with sectarian issues before. Wedding or a condolence meeting, Hindus and Muslim were one. Dussehra was celebrated.

So was Ramlila, where Muslim actors vied for roles. At Malakpur hamlet, that has about 20 families, all Jats, Narayan Singh says, "We weakened our party, the RLD, in 2014. At least they talk about issues concerning us, not who is Hindu or Muslim. Now's the time to strengthen that party again."

Part of Meerapur constituency in Muzaffarnagar district, Kawal has to pick one from the BJP's "outsider" candidate Avtar Singh Bhadana, the BSP's Nawazish Alam, SP's Liyakat Ali and RLD's Mithlesh Pal.

Fahim Qureshi is clear who he wants to go with this time. "We always supported SP, but what did we get in return? Had the state government been strict (after the 2013 riots), lives and property could've been saved. We remember the BSP days when law and order were never challenged," he says. Mohd Arshad, a fruit vendor, seconds that. "I haven't recovered from the riot shock," he says.

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