Life lost due to riots, someone lost eyes and lost hands
Shweta Singh "Journalist" 
National Desk: Mohammad Vakil, who lives in Shiv Vihar, North East Delhi, had a grocery shop under his house. The daily income of about 200 to 300 rupees from this shop was well maintained by his seven member family. But these days last year, communal riots in this area of the capital derailed his life car. His eyes fell from being caught by an acid bottle thrown during the riots and he is now fond of others for his regular routine, far from maintaining the family. Vakil (52), has been living in Shiv Vihar Phase-6 street number 13 for the past thirty years. On the evening of 23 February last year, communal violence broke out in almost the entire district following a clash in the Maujpur area between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), with the most affected being the Shiva Vihar.
"On that day (February 25), I was on the roof of my house when suddenly someone threw an acid bottle," the lawyer said. This bottle was torn near my face and darkened before my eyes. He says, my daughter present nearby also had acid splashes on her face and neck, and she also groaned. The lawyer said, there was tension throughout our street on February 25. All the family members were at home. By evening the rioting crowd became furious. We closed the doors of the house. I went to the terrace to take a look at the outside and was looking down when someone threw a glass bottle targeting me, which was filled with acid. The lawyer said that due to acid, his eyesight has completely gone. He said, the treatment is going on now and the doctors have assured that the eyes will be so fine that I can walk without any support. Last year, Mustafabad, Karaval Nagar, Shiv Vihar, Chand Bagh, Brahmapuri, North East Delhi, Riots in several areas including Yamuna Vihar, Vijay Park, Khajuri and Subhash Mohalla, including a policeman, killed 53 people and injured around 500 people. Now a year later, the whole area is filled with stories of life destroyed by riots.
The violence first started with a confrontation between two communities in the Maujpur-Babarpur area and then hundreds of houses and shops were set on fire in several areas including Maujpur, Babarpur, Yamuna Vihar, Brijpuri. These riots completely changed the life of Mohammad Akram like a lawyer. Akram, a jeans cutting master by profession, used to earn Rs 1000-1500 a day, but on February 24 last year, he had to cut one hand and also cut a finger in the other hand after being injured in an incident. Akram said that he had left the house to go to the Ijtime (religious gathering) on 24 February, but got trapped in a crowd of rioters when he saw the atmosphere coming back. he told, I was escaping from the rioters on Wazirabad Road and in the meantime a country bomb exploded near me causing serious injuries on my hand. The next day the doctors had to cut off one hand and one finger of the other hand. Twenty-two-year-old Akram says that his life has been paralyzed after the Delhi riots.
With tears in his eyes, he said that now I have to seek the help of others even for wearing a shirt. Akram said that now he cannot do any work and stays at home. Akram claimed that the police had earlier made it a case of accident and had received only Rs 20,000 from the government but he got a compensation of Rs five lakh in January after a series of mishaps and the matter arose before the committee of the assembly. Significantly, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced Rs five lakh for the disabled persons in the riots and Rs two lakh for the seriously injured. Apart from this, those whose houses were completely destroyed, were to be compensated at the rate of five lakh rupees per floor. Even after a year of rioting, many people are waiting for compensation.
Muslim organization Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has constructed several houses in the Shiv Vihar area, including the lawyer's house. Lawyer's wife Mumtaz said while crying, "We were given shelter some days by the people of Chaman Park during the raid." After this, I spent a few days in the camp at Idgah. When I came back home, I found that the house was burnt. Everything was finished. He told that a few days before the riots, his elder son had got a job in a canteen but due to taking his father to the hospital, this job was also missed. Two sons are unemployed while younger son and daughter are studying. The lawyer said that he has so far been given Rs 1.80 lakh for treatment and Rs 1 lakh for the house, while the daughter has received only Rs 20,000 for her treatment. An FIR is lodged in the Karawal Nagar police station in connection with the lawyer.
