Batla House residents speak out

“The blast in Mehrauli proves the police have caught hold of innocent people. The police had earlier claimed the mastermind behind the Delhi blast had been caught. Then who carried out this blast?” said Nasim Chaudhary, a Batla House resident, reports Neelam Pandey.

“The blast in Mehrauli proves the police have caught hold of innocent people. The police had earlier claimed the mastermind behind the Delhi blast had been caught. Then who carried out this blast?” said Nasim Chaudhary, a Batla House resident.

HT Image

Saturday’s blast should be an eye opener for all who label Muslims as terrorists, say residents of Batla House.

“The police killed innocent people and now the truth is there for everyone to see. We have been repeatedly saying there are loopholes in the encounter but no one has been listening to us,” said Salim Ahmad, a resident of Batla House who runs a shop in Khan Market.

A delegation of Delhi Minorities Commission visited Batla House to assess the L-18 flat where the September 19 encounter took place.

“A delegation from the area expressed their doubts over the encounter. They said discrimination was being carried out. So we visited the flat on Saturday,” said S.P. Singh, secretary of Delhi Minorities Commission. The Commission has now formed a committee , which will submit a report regarding the incident.

Many residents of Batla House also met on Saturday to distribute pamphlets demanding fair investigation of all the bomb blasts and the encounter.

“We want a fair trial of the whole incident that took place in Batla House. We will be holding a peace march on Monday,” said Aslam Khan, member of All India Student’s Association.

“We just want the gaze of the police to shift from Jamia. Everyone is seeing the entire community (Muslims) suspiciously after the blast. We want this to end. The festive season is on but we have not been able to celebrate,” said Nazneen Zaidi a Batla House resident.