New Delhi: The atmosphere In the narrow lanes of Hastsal village in Uttam Nagar is heavy ahead of Eid on Saturday, stripped of the usual festive buzz scene in the area. Just weeks after a clash on Holi that led to the murder of 26-year-old Tarun Kumar, residents narrated a sense of uneasy quiet in the area enforced by a heavy police presence.
ighteen-year-old Vaishali Kumar stood outside her home selling sevvaiyyan, the fine vermicelli synonymous with Eid-ul-Fitr.
“It’s very unfortunate what happened. Every year, my parents sell sevvaiyyan worth ₹10,000 a day in the run-up to Eid. This year, we have been selling around ₹3,500 a day. People from nearby areas are not coming to this market out of fear,” she said.
For 7-year-old Rabia Khanam, Eid has always meant the aroma of sevvaiyyan wafting through the lanes, bustling markets with mehendiwallahs and the frantic rush in markets with shoppers bustling for new clothes.
“There would be so much excitement… But this year, it’s just not the same,” she said, seated inside her home in an area where tension has lingered since the March 4 clash that claimed Kumar’s life.
he incident that led to tension took place on March 4 when an 11-year-old girl threw a water balloon from her terrace which hit a Muslim woman. This led to an altercation between the two families, which eventually escalated into a fight, resulting in injuries to at least eight people.
Taran Kumar, 26 succumbed to his injuries a few days later. An FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Since then police have arrested 14 people and apprehended two minors over the alleged murder of the 26-year-old – all relatives of the Muslim family. In the events that followed, inflammatory social media posts and provocative speeches have kept communal tensions simmering.
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