Hyderabad: Even as prohibitory orders have been lifted in Jainoor, which has been on the boil following the destruction of businesses and houses of Muslims on September 4, the victims of the violence are yet to come to terms with the reality that has hit them hard.
Irfan is one such businessmen who saw the businesses established by his father go up in flames right in front of his eyes.
“A day before the attack, we were summoned by the DSP, who told us to keep our shops shut and to stay out of the market. He asked us to send our people away on work, picnic or holiday, and if we stayed in Jainoor, to sleep inside our homes and not to venture out. He told us that if we failed to follow his direction, he wasn’t going to be held responsible for anything that could happen,” Irfan told Siasat.com
Osman General Stores, which was named after his father Syed Osman, started as a small shop in 1950-51. After his father, his elder brother, and two brothers, Irfan was running the store where hardware, electrical, plumbing, sanitary, stationery, paints and other items used to be sold. His family also owned Suleiman Steel Shop in Jainoor.
The two shops were set ablaze on the unfateful day, when a 5,000-strong mob destroyed all the shops belonging to Muslims. Though the actual loss could be around Rs 1.5 crore, revenue officials estimated it to be around Rs 80 to 90 lakh.
Twenty five persons working as painters, electricians, sales persons and others dependent on Irfan’s shops for their livelihood were rendered jobless after the destruction, with some of them shifting their houses and moving to Jainoor in Adilabad.
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Shaikh Mazhar is one of the painters, whose occupation was disrupted, and house was also attacked in Jainoor. “They damaged our car parked outside and looted all the money from my brother, who had taken a bank loan to start a new business,” Mazhar told Siasat.com, also mentioning that a police complaint has been lodged.
With a pregnant wife in her third trimester and two children, he has rented a small room in Adilabad, and has been looking for work there. “It has been ten days, and I was able to find work for two days. We are managing by borrowing Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 from others,” he says. As if the huge economic losses being faced by the Muslims after the violence wasn’t enough, Muslims are still facing an economic boycott in some areas.
For instance, every Tuesday there is a weekly market held at Lingapur, which is located 20 km away from Jainoor. According to the Muslims, the Gonds in that area were instigated to boycott Muslims from selling their products in the market. Interestingly, the Lambadas came in support of Muslims and declared that even they will not let the market function if Muslims were not allowed.
Hence The market didn’t function till now. However, there were also incidents where Adivasis came in support of Muslims.
According to K Srinivas, a representative of Telangana Adivasi Girijana Sangham, in Lingapur mandal, in a Gond Gudem (hamlet), on the day the violence erupted in Jainoor, a Muslim meat-seller wanted to close down his shop and leave the village, but the Gonds in that village assured him that nobody could harm him, and kept his business running.
There was also an incident during the vandalism on the unfateful day, where a mob was looting a shoe store, and an Adivasi joined them and took three pairs of footwear home. He went home and returned to the police station to give back the stolen property, as he couldn’t bear the burden of guilt for his wrongdoing.
After over a month of prohibitory orders being in force, cell phone signals jammed, and outsiders not allowed to enter the town, life seems to have returned to normalcy in Jainoor. However, rebuilding the businesses, and most importantly relationships between the different communities isn’t going to be easy yet.
According to locals, peace committee meetings and efforts of the police department to bring law and order under control in Jainoor are on. The Adivasi woman who was attacked by an auto driver, which had sparked the violence, has recovered and got discharged from Gandhi Hospital this week. She is presently at her home in Jainoor.
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