A week after Delhi riots, victims stare at an uncertain future

Their homes burnt down and papers lost, many residents fear they would face difficulties in claiming insurance. ET Magazine counted at least 20 charred houses in the single by-lane of Khajuri Khas Extension where Mukeem and Mehboob live. Saira Bano, holding her three-month-old daughter Anisha, weeps as she says, “As our house was burning, there was no way we could take the stairs. From the fourth floor, we dropped our child into the hands of someone on the second floor. From the second floor, we .. “My home and warehouse were first looted and then set on fire,” he says, adding that the attack was wellplanned, with many carrying cutting tools and keys to break open doors and shutters. He now stays with his relatives in nearby Chandu Nagar, with no clue of what lies ahead.

 It is a week since riots spread across Northeast Delhi — the worst the capital has seen since the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984 — and what is left are frightened people, burnt-down lanes, abandoned homes, an uneasy calm and an uncertain future. Mohammed Asad, a student, leads us to the home of his uncle, Mehboob, who rents out space in his covered parking lot. All 23 vehicles parked there, including two auto-rickshaws & Asad’s Royal Enfield bike, are reduced to a mangled heap of metal. “I had pai ..

Courtesy : The Economic Times