By Ishita Jairath

New Delhi: Around a decade ago, Riyasat Khan sold an inherited plot to open a showroom in northeast Delhi’s Shiv Vihar that would build on his family’s long-standing furniture-making skills. In Feb 2020, the family was warned to leave their locality. They heeded the warning, hoping the inflamed passions would diminish soon. But one morning, they learnt their hopes had been in vain.

“Our workers were too scared to go inside, but they stayed locked in the warehouse and saw the fire in the showroom,” Babu, Khan’s son, related to TOI five years after the incident. “The following day, our warehouse was also razed. The furniture turned to ash and the only thing left was an old iron cupboard.”

Life hasn’t been the same since. The showroom shut down and although the family managed to set up the warehouse again, the furniture they now make isn’t for their business, but for someone else to sell. Khan’s family had applied for compensation — Rs 10 lakh for the warehouse and Rs 15 lakh for the showroom — but nothing has come so far.

Every day, the father and son discuss whether they should sell their house to restart their own business. “My father worked hard to build this business and I wanted to take it forward,” said Babu. Showing photos of the once-busy showroom, Khan sighed, “We sold our family land to expand but we have nothing left now.”

Five years have passed since communal riots rocked northeast Delhi. With the court cases already dragging on for half a decade, compensation remains a distant dream for many of those who lost their livelihoods.

A recent Delhi High Court order has, however, given a glimmer of hope to the affected families. The court ordered the authorities to release, within eight weeks, the compensation recommended for 14 victims of the riots by a claims settlement commission. Justice Sachin Dutta allowed a batch of petitions seeking the release of the compensation. The counsel for the petitioners argued that although the amount assessed and recommended by the North East Riot Delhi Commission on 14 of the 19 petitions was a fraction of what the petitioners were entitled to, at the very least, directions should be issued to Delhi govt to release even that amount at the earliest.

This story was originally published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Read the full story here.