New Delhi: Asiya Bibi and her family were living under a thick tarpaulin sheet in extreme weather conditions after civic authorities tore down their house in north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri more than two years ago following communal violence in the area.
The family finally managed to begin rebuilding their house with a loan of Rs 1 lakh this year, and her husband has restarted his grocery shop business, but their troubles are far from over.
Asiya’s family is among the dozens of other Muslims who bore the brunt of the demolition drive in Jahangirpuri and have only now begun to pick up the pieces. They still struggle to make ends meet.
Many are also haunted by traumatic memories of the demolition of their homes and live in constant fear of a repeat of the past.
“They looted things from our shop worth at least Rs 1.5 lakh. Now, we are selling groceries on the roadside because we don’t have money to reconstruct our shops but the police harass us and ask us to move from there as well,” 34-year-old-old Asiya told ThePrint, sitting in a dark room with a small bed and a makeshift kitchen.
Asiya’s home and grocery shop were demolished on 20 April, 2022, four days after a shobha yatra on Hanuman Jayanti sparked an altercation between Hindus and Muslims that ended in violent riots. Her three brothers were in jail for eight months after that.
This story was originally published in theprint.in. Read the full story here.
