WHO BURNS A SCHOOL? (Part 1-read if you have patience)
On 25th Feb, about 4pm a crowd of about 250-300 (numbers grow as attack progresses) enter the Arun Senior Sec School in Brijpuri. Eyewitnesses: they came via the terrace & from the side of the Farooqiya Masjid.
On 25th Feb, about 4pm a crowd of about 250-300 (numbers grow as attack progresses) enter the Arun Senior Sec School in Brijpuri. Eyewitnesses: they came via the terrace & from the side of the Farooqiya Masjid.
They were armed with stones, lathis, crude bombs, inflammable material. The school was locked, the lone watchman ran away.
In the attack that went on for 2-3 hours (& spread), school’s main office was reduced to ashes, library burnt, toilets vandalized, a school bus + two cards outside charred. Answer sheets, admit cards, all reduced to ashes.
Neetu Choudhary, the cashier & Jyoti Rani, Principal say all cameras in the school were broken.
Lane outside the Arun Senior School is lined with anti CAA, NRC graffiti along the entire stretch, right up to a culvert.
The attackers whose numbers grew went from the School to at least two other shops (Kapoor, Chawla) before setting ablaze the house of Sanjay Kaushik (distributor of refined oil)
Eyewitnesses: The attackers (by now more in number) were followed by rickshaws that carried stones, and drums of inflammable material. (Unrelated pic)
The street saw pitched battles between Hindus and Muslims. All calls to the Police went unanswered for about 3 hours before the Dayalpur Thana responded. The RAF followed.
WHO BURNS A SCHOOL? (Part 2: read if you still have patience)
In the words of this man, Surinder Sharma (RWA Brijpuri) who has lived here for years, “scene badal gaya. Mein jhooth nahi boloonga, phir yahan waalon ne us taraf dhava bola.”
In the words of this man, Surinder Sharma (RWA Brijpuri) who has lived here for years, “scene badal gaya. Mein jhooth nahi boloonga, phir yahan waalon ne us taraf dhava bola.”
The police lathi charged the area/lane outside the mosque/Madarsa.
Multiple eyewitnesses say it was during/shortly after the evening namaaz. Men armed w stones, petrol bombs went inside the mosque/madarsa
Multiple eyewitnesses say it was during/shortly after the evening namaaz. Men armed w stones, petrol bombs went inside the mosque/madarsa
Kishwar Jahan, who had a clear view of the mosque/lane from her house in Mustafabad told me, “jab police aayi to tasalli hui” lekin aur mamla bigad gaya.
Eyewitnesses: CCTV camera was broken by the police. The crowd (assisted by the police), entered the premises. Arson that even continued till yday morning. The Imam is critically injured.
To see this as an action-reaction, a cause-effect would be a gross misunderstanding of what has happened in Brijpuri and across north east delhi. The paramilitary is standing every few metres. What’s been cleaved here will take much much more than uniformed personnel to heal.
