Memories of Riots

Have frequent communal tensions changed the social fabric of Bihar?

- Umesh Kumar Ray

IN the narrow lanes of Sasaram town in Rohtas district of Bihar, flags are fluttering on a humid May evening outside residences. Some are saffron; some are green, giving a sense of co-existence.

To an outsider visiting the town, this may come as a surprise because just last year in March, a clash broke out between two groups in Sasaram after the Ram Navami procession.

Multiple stone-pelting incidents were reported, and the authorities had to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 to maintain the law and order situation. The town remained on edge even a few days later when two blasts injured a couple of people. More than 150 people from both communities were arrested. The violence divided a part of the town.

“In the newly-developed areas, you will now find separate localities for Hindus and Muslims, but in old Sasaram, families continue to live peacefully,” says Qazi Saliq Hasan, a social activist who lives in Mohalla Shahjuma. “In fact, after last year’s violence, we decided to celebrate all the festivals together and made sure it happened,” he adds.

Ratan Shah, who runs a grocery shop and lives next to a Muslim family in Paatan Gali, says: “Both communities were very disturbed after the riots but nothing changed between us. We blame the outsiders for the violence.”

Sabban Khatoon, a resident of Shah Jalal Peer area, still remembers the day her house was ransacked. “They broke the door, the electric meter and looted our jewellery. All of us feel they were outsiders. We don’t recognise any of them,” she says.

For those who lost something, erasing the bitter memories has been difficult.