In tinderbox Trilokpuri, residents cling to peace
BLOODY HISTORY One of the worst-hit areas in 1984
NEW DELHI: “Every time an incident like this takes place, I am immediately reminded of 1984,” said 50-year-old Charanjeet Singh, speaking of the communal riots in north-east Delhi last week. Stooped over his accounts register at a small tailoring shop in Trilokpuri, Singh at the same time recounted memories of mobs targeting Sikhs during the 1984 violence.
Back then, he and his mother hid at a neighbour’s home, while his father chopped his hair and took refuge inside a trunk for many days.
“We were scared something similar might happen [in Trilokpuri] again. But thankfully, things remained peaceful here,” he said.
Trilokpuri in east Delhi, where Singh lives, was one of the worst-hit neighbourhoods during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Of the over 2,700 Sikh victims, around 350 were from there.
Since then, small squabbles in Trilokpuri have frequently turned violent and communal.
Days after Delhi witnessed its most violent instance of communal riots since 1984, Trilokpuri maintained a calm façade. Scenes of residents going about their daily life included people gathered at tea shops, working at their stores and locals prepping for a wedding. But there were discussions about the north-east Delhi riots, affected areas and relatives and friends who were stuck there. Residents, however, were emphatic in noting that peace has prevailed in Trilokpuri, and will continue to.
“People here have learnt their lessons from previous instances of riots,” said Harvinder Singh, 47, who has been a resident of the neighbourhood since 1976, when it was set up by the Congress government to resettle those who had been evicted from their homes during the slum demolition drive carried out during the Emergency.
The neighbourhood consists of about 2,000 houses scattered around 40 blocks and has mixed demography of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.
“Trilokpuri was established during the Emergency when a diverse set of people were forcibly relocated and given a tract of land without adequate facilities. In such poor areas with no long history, local political figures have a tendency to use their power in times that are communally surcharged,” said historian Mukul Kesavan.
In October 2014, a small fight near a makeshift temple had flared up into a communal riot, leaving over 50 people injured, after which a curfew had been imposed for more than a week. Incidents of communally charged violence had also taken place in 2016 and 2018.
“In the 2014 riots, people from both sides were affected. People could not celebrate their festival. Property and business were affected. Nobody wants it to be repeated,” said Harvinder
Singh.
Residents of the area are aware of the sensitive fabric of Trilokpuri and said they are now extremely cautious. “Even last Tuesday, when the police asked people to shut their shops as a precaution, people began panicking. Some rumours were floating around as well. But nothing happened,” said Farzan Ali, 48.
Emphasising the character of communal harmony that has been maintained in the area during the recent riots, Nawshan Bano, 60, said that “ever since news of the riots in Delhi reached my relatives in our native village, they have been asking me to go over and stay at their place. But I have no fear and will not budge.”
Manu Agarwal, 28, on the other hand, agreed that the neighbourhood has a history of small fights flaring up. “But nothing happened here this time because the police were more alert and took precautionary measures,” he added.
There are others though who also believe that the area has got an unnecessarily bad reputation since 1984, even when people want to live in peace. “Every small fight here is shown as a communal riot. That is not true. We are poor, hardworking people who will not gain anything from a fight,” said Syed Naeem, 36.
“Even those people did not want to fight. They were just protesting against an unfair law,” he added about the northeast Delhi violence.