Yusuf Khan looked distraught as he recalled the night of September 11. Khan, who is in his 30s, said that he and his brother had flung themselves across the entrance of Sadhana Textiles to prevent more than 100 masked men from causing damage. “But the mob simply shoved us aside. They removed petrol from my two-wheeler parked outside to set the shop on fire. We tried to douse the flames using water from our house and the overhead tank, but the fire raged on,” he said.
The apparel shop was located on the ground floor and Khan’s family lived on the second floor of the building, located in Nagamangala town in the political hotbed of Mandya district in southern Karnataka. Khan’s family owns the building.
The violence broke out during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. A procession was on its way to immerse the idol of Ganesh and deviated from the scheduled path “by a bit”, said the police. The procession allegedly went close to the Ya Allah Masjid in Nagamangala, halted, blasted music, shouted slogans, and burst firecrackers. This led to a confrontation and violence, they added.
The mob allegedly attacked over 20 business enterprises that night. The government, which is looking to compensate losses suffered by these establishments, has listed Khan’s tenant for compensation. But the damage to the building and his family is still to be estimated, Khan said.
“My tenants [who are Hindu] are upset and our family is staring at a bleak future,” Khan said, while his brothers moved household items to a temporary home a few metres away on the narrow lane off the Nagamangala-Bellur Highway.
This story was originally published in thehindu.com. Read the full story here.
