Salted Wounds: North East Delhi bleeds during the Pandemic

By Shivani Deshmukh(UG 2022) and Devika Jamkhedkar(UG 21)

As we are frustratingly caught in the midst of the lockdown, the grand grading policy fiasco and hectic online classes, an impending issue has been relegated to the back burners — The North East Delhi crisis. The pogrom, which once incited many of us to take to the streets, has somewhat been locked in the past. The same cannot be said for the families affected by the sky-high fumes of the riots.

The families caught in this crisis have had to face two consequent blows to their mental, physical and monetary stability. The pogrom and violence that rendered many homeless, then the lockdown, which forced the families out of the citizen-run relief camps into the houses of neighbours, relatives and even mosques.

A group of volunteers from Ashoka visited the Eidgah camp in Mustafabad before it was dismantled. Several hundred people placed close to each other in one space. The families in Shiv Vihar and other parts of North East Delhi had not only lost their houses but all of their capital too. Important documents, vehicles, money and small businesses had burned down along with their homes. The violence caused a generational setback for families who were only barely getting by on a day-to-day basis in the first place. Many of them had shops that were burned down. Now, with the onset of the 21-day lockdown, there is no avenue for earning as most earning adults were once daily wagers or shop owners who are now left bereft.

The literal loss of livelihood also sprouted severe mental distress. Children as young as 5–6 years are the youngest victims. Fear, trauma and paranoia run at an unparalleled high. “There was a single mother who told me that she and her child had witnessed several murders”, said a volunteer. Even families whose homes did not burn down do not want to return home out of anxiety.

The volunteers continued to check in with the families over the phone even after physically visiting them was made impossible after the lockdown. Essential supplies have almost run out and families do not have the means to buy them. According to a volunteer, restricted mobility further hampers the ability to get resources or find a permanent living arrangement.

The stories are chilling. A woman needed 12 stitches after fracturing her knee during the riots. A man had suffered second degree burns down his back while trying to rescue his family from the fire. Children as young as 4 months had untreated severe burn wounds, pregnant women needed ob/gyn appointments and patients with heart conditions lost their prescribed medicines. Urgent medical care was required but these families had no access to it. The problems pile onto the existing trauma of having their home charred into a warzone.

Families whose homes burned down in the riots had nowhere to go after the camp was dismantled. Although many moved in with their relatives, this was in no way a sustainable arrangement. There were 5 families (25 people) living in the squalid confines of a house as small as a regular-sized room. People were wary about moving in with overburdened relatives. Masjids began to accommodate people, but many were apprehensive about living in a place of worship.

The first place the volunteers were taken to was a madarsa (that was burnt in the pogrom) to deposit the supplies for the relief camp. A distinct memory of dettol lingers on, hygiene and sanitation was of peak priority in the camps and individual bottles were distributed in addition to food, supplies, and toiletries. Then, the threat of a looming pandemic was the last thing in the minds of the now displaced and traumatized citizens of North East Delhi, but currently news media have conflated the pandemic with communalism and is not erasing the actions of the pogrom, but putting the onus of every problem including a health emergency on a certain group of people, just because of their religion. False videos of muslim vendors and missionaries spitting on produce, and in one case even the police is used to justify blatant islamophobia. Some hashtags that trended on twitter were #CoronaJihad and #TablighiJamatVirus, a communal narrative that believed muslims to be “weaponizing the coronavirus” to target Hindus. The WHO was mindful of the racist connotations, and was quick in coming up with a name for the virus that eliminated (with little success) any possibility of it being called a China Virus. However, that does not seem to be the case in India. After the Nizamuddin incident, the preexisting notions of the disease being the result of a particular group was justified in the minds of news media and sanghis. Leaders of the ruling party have blatantly termed it “Corona Terrorism” and India Today uploading an infographic that targetted the incident, hate speech is masquerading as investigating journalism as journalists conduct sting operations in madarsa’s much the one one in NE Delhi and report them as hotspots of the virus.

The larger context of the islamophobic narrative that the pandemic has justified in India has direr consequences for the victims of the pogrom. Apart from the larger tensions, the outbreak of COVID-19 stripped them of all choice. Once the Eidgah camp was disbanded, entire families were left stranded on the streets. In one case, a heavily pregnant woman and her family were left stranded after their house burned down in the riots and the relief camp was disbanded.

The riots and the pandemic coupled together have had a catastrophic effect on the people. Cash and capital was destroyed. The Delhi government’s awfully inadequate response was passing out one portion of poorly cooked rations per person. Many families do not even own bank accounts and are relying on neighbours and relatives with digital wallets. Ashokan volunteers have tried to alleviate these struggles. So far, 1 lakh has been collected for 25 families to buy essentials like food, non-perishables, basic first-aid kits, sanitary napkins, diapers, etc.

In February, many of us took to the streets to protest against the riots. It was an event in history that will remain unforgettable. But the truth stands — the riots have only lasted in our memories and have, in no way, changed our lifestyle. The same cannot be said for the families who lost their lives and livelihoods in the riots. For them, the riots will have lasting impacts, with many helplessly bearing the brunt of it for the entirety of their lives. While protesting is an important and necessary means of resistance, it is just as important to actively help those affected to rebuild their lives, or get through these strife-torn times. The very least we can do at this point is to donate and volunteer remotely to help coordinate getting supplies to families. There are still a handful of people present on-ground where circumstances are extremely dire, who continue to relentlessly attempt to deliver physical rations — the least we could do is help.

You can donate towards relief work to -

Sreya Majumder: Paytm: 8017133948

UPI: sreyamajumder98@okhdfcbank

Rithvik URS: Paytm: 9600189875

Gowri Kolal: BHIM: 8762733018

Abdul Paytm: 90368 58532

UPI to abdulmmjd@oksbi

Shubhang Ojha: Paytm: 9990949608