Communal anxieties dull Eid sheen in scarred Sambhal
In Sambhal, Eid festivities are overshadowed by grief and tension after violent clashes last November, leaving families mourning and fearing celebrations.
Kot Garvi in Sambhal, a Muslim-majority city in western Uttar Pradesh, is eerily quiet. Eid is around the corner but there is little sign of the all-night preparations or public festivities.
PREMIUM
Police conduct a flag march a day after the arrest of Zafar Ali, Chairman of the Shahi Jama Masjid managing committee, in Sambhal, Monday. (PTI)
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Ayesha Bano, a 45-year-old widow, clutches a photo of her son Naeem, killed in the clashes. “He went to see what was happening at the masjid,” she said. “The police deny shooting, but I saw the hole in his chest.” In neighbourhoods such as Hindpura and Nakhasa, such stories
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Rajesh Kumar Singh is Assistant Editor, Hindustan Times, at the political bureau in Lucknow. An Alumnus of Ramjas College, Delhi and the University of Delhi, he has covered politics in the Hindi heartland Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for three decades and has written extensively on Dalit and OBC politics. He travelled across Uttar Pradesh to cover the panchayat, assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Along with writing on development issues, governance and public policy has done crime reporting, including Maoist activities in Bihar as well as activities of gangsters in East Uttar Pradesh, Jungle Party gang active on UP- Bihar border, dacoit gangs in Bundelkhand region and Sand Mafia active in various districts of UP. Has done investigations and reporting exposing multi-crore NRHM scam in UP, Nutrition scam, Medicine supply scam, irregularities in the flood management projects, weapon smuggling and human trafficking on Indo- Nepal border. He highlighted the deaths of children due to encephalitis in the districts of East Uttar Pradesh; the central and state government took cognisance of the report to launch schemes to check deaths and improve the facilities in the health centres and hospitals. He also reported on the social issues in East Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand- migration, farming crisis, water crisis, plight of the deprived communities- Musahar, Vantongiyas, Sahariya and Kol communities. He covers state government departments. He also travels to write human-interest stories and in-depth stories from the ground in the Bundelkhand, Purvanchal, and Rohilkhand regions of Uttar Pradesh.
Deepak Lavania is a Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times, reporting on the diverse and fast-evolving landscape of Western Uttar Pradesh. Currently based in Meerut, he has a decade of experience in journalism and has covered most major beats, from civic issues to crime, politics, and defence. Previously, he was associated with The Times of India, where he covered a wide range of significant stories across the region. His reports on the degradation of the ecologically sensitive Yamuna ravines near the Taj Mahal were taken into cognisance by the National Green Tribunal, which directed the government to demarcate the Yamuna floodplains. Rooted in his hometown of Taj City of Agra, Deepak takes immense pride in the rich history, heritage, and traditions of Braj culture. Beyond journalism, he is passionate about long-distance running, strength training, and mountaineering. A certified mountaineer and recipient of the prestigious Silver Ice Axe Badge from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, he embraces challenges both in the mountains and on the road, while finding a sense of calm and clarity through swimming, which he considers a form of meditation.
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