Ghettoisation changing demography of rural Muzaffarnagar post riots | Sandeep Joshi

(Report in The Hindu, MUZAFFARNAGAR, December 18, 2013)

by Sandeep Joshi
With at least six small colonies being built in the rural areas of Muzaffarnagar for settlement of riot-hit Muslims who have permanently left their villages out of fear of the dominant Jat community, ghettoisation, which was till now relevant in big cities, is the new phenomenon in this agrarian belt that is bound to have a deep social and political impact in the years to come.

While 70-odd houses with two rooms each have already been handed over to affected villagers in Khampur village, similar small colonies of 60-70 houses are being built in Muslim-dominated villages like Bassi Kalan, Malukpura, Loi, Dadhedu and Jaula, all within 30 km from the district headquarters. This trend is also being seen in the neighbouring Shamli district .

“Muslims who left their homes during the riots and took refuge in nearby villages, mostly dominated by their community members, have refused to return. Now with relief camps being winded up as compensation-distribution exercise coming to an end, people of these villages have come forward to give them land at minimal charges so that riot-affected people can leave camps and build their new homes,” social activist Shandar Gufran told ‘ The Hindu’ .

It is the residents of villages worst affected by riots who have refused to return fearing yet another backlash from their “influential” Jat neighbours. These villages include Kutba-Kutbi, Tavli, Budhana, Lisad, Phugana, Kakra, Mundvar, Hussainpur and Lakh Bardi. Initially religious organisations came forward and constructed houses for displaced people in Khampur, but later the State government announced Rs.5 lakh grant to built houses to people not willing to return to their villages.

No displaced Muslim wants to leave his home and property and start living in another place, but riot-affected people allege that Jats have threatened them with dire consequences if they returned.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/ghettoisation-changing-demography-of-rural-muzaffarnagar-post-riots/article5472349.ece