Panel reaches out to Junaid’s family for communal harmony
I welcomed them. I already knew some of them and this is definitely going to strengthen harmony between the two communities. JALAL-U-DIN, Junaid’s father
FARIDABAD: Members of the committee constituted during Thursday’s mahapanchayat at Palwal district’s Bhamrola, the native village of the main accused in the Junaid Khan stabbing case, on Saturday reached out to the bereaved family in a bid “to strengthen harmony between the two communities”.
Junaid (17) was stabbed aboard a train when he, along with his brothers, was returning home after Eid shopping in Delhi on June 22. The 51-member committee was constituted after the arrest of Naresh Kumar in Maharashtra’s Dhule district last Saturday to build pressure on the government for a “fair investigation” into the incident.
The committee comprising elders from several villages assembled in a farmhouse of a local political leader on Mathura road near Sikri village around 10am. Then they proceeded towards Khandawali village, where Junaid’s family lives.
The members extended condolences to the bereaved family. Junaid’s father Jalal-u-din said. “I welcomed them all. I already knew some of them and this is definitely going to strengthen harmony between the two communities.”
“I and my family are very close to the people of Khandawali and this longstanding relation made things easy for all the committee members to visit the griefstricken family,” said Sanjay Daggar, a social and political activist.
“We expressed grief at the death of Junaid in the train and laid emphasis on strengthening communal brotherhood,” said Mahinder Singh Sehrawat of Hathin, who too was part of the delegation. “I told Jalal-u-din that I and other members of the committee who live close to Mewat share a strong bond with the Muslim community. The train incident will not be allowed to spoil our longstanding relation,” Sehrawat said.
“The people who attended the mahapanchayat are of the view that it was an accident. They fought over a seat but an impression was created that the killing was intentional, which is not the case,” Arun Zaildar Sondhe, the committee head, had told Hindustan Times.