Rozia and Mahtab Qamar’s story mirrors that of many in North East Delhi.

They live in a house with large cracks caused by the torching of their ground-floor scrap shop during the communal riots of February 2020. They spent the ₹25,000 compensation on food during the pandemic. The lockdown shrank their scrap trade.

Yet, in the first parliamentary polls after the riots, they don’t expect anyone to take up their demand for justice.

“Why will anyone talk about those days now?” asks Rozia. “We too want to forget about it, but the cracks and the blackened walls remind us. Jobs, jobs — tell all politicians to give jobs. Governments don’t do anything but if young men have work to do, they won’t bother about Hindu-Muslim.”

The tension lingers, unspoken, unhealed and unaddressed, in the neighbourhood of the Brijpuri Bridge. The lanes have steel gates — the Hindu lanes have saffron flags celebrating the Ayodhya temple; the Muslim lanes rarely have a visible marker.

“All the women here, Hindu and Muslim, are my friends — were my friends. Now, if we walk past each other, aankhein chura lete hain (we avert our eyes),” Rozia says.

The riots claimed 53 lives and injured 581 people. A little over half the police cases have been solved.

The rebuilt Faruquia Jama Masjid in Brijpuri that was set ablaze during the riots. Pheroze L Vincent

Anuj Attrey’s Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai Ekta Committee worked to build bridges between the communities after the riots. Today, he is a spokesman for the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee.

“The major issues of this election are unemployment, inflation and the inefficiency of the seven BJP MPs,” he told The Telegraph.

“Those affected by the riots will keep in mind while voting that they shouldn’t elect people who did nothing to stop the riots — even instigated the rioting. We (the Congress) don’t play divide-and-rule and we don’t want to politicise this social problem (communal polarisation).”

M. Wasil, president of the Chaman Park Residents Welfare Association, was active during the 2020 riots as part of the peace committee organised by the police to help quell tensions and warn of any flare-up.

“Of course, no party can talk about justice for the riot victims. If you talk about one community, you will lose the votes of the other. Things are not like they were before.
Insaan, insaan na raha (humans are no longer human),” Wasil said.

Ankur Sharma of Chand Bagh lost his brother Ankit, a security assistant in the Intelligence Bureau, in the riots. Former AAP municipal councillor Tahir Hussain, whose house was damaged in the riots, is one of those accused of the murder. Hussain is in jail but many of his co-accused are out on bail.

Ankur was recruited by Delhi’s education department on compassionate grounds. He did not want to comment whether any of the candidates had spoken about justice for the riot victims.

“My only demands are that all the parties work together to ensure justice for my brother and bring all those responsible for his murder to justice,” Ankur said.

“The Centre should declare my brother a martyr as he was on duty when he went missing. Whichever government is in power should ensure that no such strife happens anywhere and no family faces what we had to.”

Nazar Mohammed, secretary of the Gokulpuri Tyre Market Association, is happy that his friends have stuck by him. The market has been rebuilt after it was gutted in the riots.

“I am alive. My friends from all communities — Punjabis, Balmikis — are all with me,” he said, showing his recent WhatsApp chats with his Hindu and Sikh friends.

“No party has ever asked for my vote. If they do, I will just ask them to give us leadership that protects the love between friends,” Mohammed added.

Delhi votes on May 25