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Video Editor: Rajbir Singh
Less than 100 metres away from 64-year-old Haji Rasheed's house in Madhya Pradesh's Khargone, a concrete wall stands now – purportedly to separate the Muslim-dominated Khaskhaswadi area from the Hindu-dominated Jameendar Mohalla.
Earlier in June, and roughly two months after violence broke out during a Ram Navami procession in Khargone on 10 April, the wall was erected as "a preventive, temporary solution" by the local administration.
Talking to The Quint, Dharmveer Singh, the newly appointed superintendent of police in Khargone district, said "the decision was made with the consent of local residents."
However, not everyone agrees with this "solution."
Although other routes are still open and are being used by people across communities, Rasheed said this is the first time when "a negative step has been taken to enforce positivity."
The wall has made life more difficult for 40-year-old Akbar Bagban, a Muslim vegetable seller, whose house has got locked on the other side – in Jameendar Mohalla. But the problem for him is not being cut off from the other houses of his community alone. The wall has made it difficult for him to commute too.
For Akbar, the wall has brought seclusion and left him helpless to move his paralysed father out of the house.
Akbar said the open drain is a risk when riding with his paralysed father.
Akbar’s house is connected with roads in two directions. However, on the left side, there is an uncovered drain, making it difficult for him to use his vehicle, and the right side has now been made inaccessible due to the wall.
His father is paralysed, and with the commutable road packed off, he has left him in the care of his younger brother.
On 10 April, as the country was celebrating Ram Navami, hundreds of people, mostly from the Raghuvanshi community, carried out a peaceful procession during the first half of the day.
Later during the day, a second rally was taken out, in which a large number of people gathered in front of the Talab Chowk area. It was then that members of the two groups clashed, injuring at least 24 people including the then SP Siddharth Choudhary.
Two months on, even as Khargone is trudging towards normalcy, the fears and reservations remain. People still have burnt vehicles outside their homes, the windows smashed by stones remain broken, the roofs carry the rocky evidence of stone pelting and the city, although hustling and bustling at the first glance, stares at people with questioning eyes.
And the bitterness lingers on.
In Hindu-dominated Jameendar Mohalla, 65-year-old Gopal Krishna said, "The wall is a sight of relief," as he sat down on the staircase leading out of his house. Wearing a pale yellow shirt and brown pants, he limped, struggling to balance himself on the platform.
He alleged that his right leg is swollen from the injuries caused by stone pelting.
Along with Khaskhaswadi, barricading has also been done in some parts of Sanjay Nagar, Bitthal Mandir, and Bhatwadi areas to prohibit inter-community movement.
In the Bitthal Mandir area, an iron barricade stands tall, prohibiting movement between Muslim-dominated Miyanman Mohalla and Baniyawadi Mohalla.
A resident (who wishes to remain anonymous), whose house lies in the Baniyawadi Mohalla, has a rented space in Miyanman Mohalla (both the mohallas are separated by a six-feet-wide cemented road) where she and her husband make mirchi sev, a local street food, and sell it on a cart.
The couple has trouble walking due to old injuries on their feet. They anyhow found it difficult to push their cart on normal days, but with the barricades, the access has become more difficult.
She added that she had objected to the barricading when they had first come to put it, but nobody paid heed to her, and in fact, they asked her to vacate the house and shift somewhere else.
While this reporter walked through the narrow dingy lanes of Khargone, he met one Sheikh Hakeem, who sat inside a wooden-roofed structure with his grinding machines.
Hakeem, 58, told The Quint that he was carrying on his forefathers' business of wheat-grinding. However, he said his business has reduced to a meagre income of Rs 100-150 per day from Rs 400-500 per day after the violence. The barricading has made it even more difficult for him to earn.
Police and the administration, however, emphasise that all barricading was done with the consent of local residents.
Apart from barricading, the police said they have "increased foot-patrolling and are continuously keeping an eye on the hotspots."
“The senior officers are going on foot every day to the hotspots and are talking with people, discussing their issues, and attempting solutions for the problems,” the SP added.
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