Passing by an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rally, Salim Qassar limps his way through the narrow lanes of Old Mustafabad, not seeming to be interested in his surroundings.
As loudspeakers thunder the AAP theme song for elections, a throng of people tries to enter the lanes. There is hustle and bustle in the air as elections are around the corner.
“What do elections even mean for us? We are still standing at the same place,” Saleem told Maktoob.
Taking a long sigh, he sits down on a yellow bench with a sign that reads, “This bench was donated by MLA Haji Yunus.” This is where Saleem is also staying.
The 56-year-old’s young son is sitting beside him. “Ask him what he remembers from that day,” Saleem says, looking at his 12-year-old son. “Ask him what that 7-year-old went through.”
Those who witnessed the horrors of those fateful days in February 2020 can still remember each and every detail vividly. The violence that not only shook the national capital but the whole country is still a black mark, and its consequences are still felt by many.
Saleem, who used to live in Shiv Vihar, lost his elder brother, Anwar Qassar, when a Hindu mob shot him and then threw him into a fire.
From 23 February 2020 to 25 February 2020, the northeastern part of Delhi, a densely populated area, witnessed an anti-Muslim pogrom, which saw 53 people killed— the majority of them Muslims.
“The violence was escalating, but we thought it wouldn’t come to our area. My brother and I were among the few Muslim families who used to live in a Hindu area,” he said, his eyes looking into an abyss.
However, as night started approaching, the situation became dangerous. Saleem and his family, consisting of his wife and children, were hidden by a Hindu neighbor, and from there, he witnessed the brutal murder of his elder brother with his own eyes.
Anwar (58) was the only one in their house while Saleem and his family were hiding. Both brothers lived nearby. Anwar’s wife had long been dead, and two of his daughters were married. The brothers owned the houses and rented out two storage rooms in the area.
“The mob held my brother, who had his hands folded in front of them. However, within a few seconds, he was shot straight in the chest,” Saleem added with a pause.
As Anwar fell down, the mob started hitting him. But Anwar, who was a strongly built man, was still able to get up. “He was hit with another shot in the chest, and he fell down, not moving much now,” Saleem said.
The mob then picked up Anwar and threw him into his own storage house. As he started burning, out of reflex, he got up again. “In a final hit, they shot him in the head, and he did not move,” Saleem narrated.
All that was left of Anwar were the charred bones of his legs. The whole incident was witnessed by Saleem, who still shudders thinking about it. “My own house and storage house were burnt. The situation started getting intense; the mob started chanting, ‘Kill these mullas (Muslims),’ and started questioning our Hindu neighbor,” Saleem further said.
The Hindu neighbor then applied tilak on Saleem’s head and asked him to keep walking toward Mustafabad. It has been five years, and Saleem has never gone back to his home.
“I don’t care about elections because when it came to taking a stand, none of them did. It seems people do not care what happened five years back, but my family and I have not and maybe never will,” Saleem, who now runs a small water business in Mustafabad, added.
As the high-octane campaigning for the February 5 Delhi assembly elections concluded at 6 pm on Monday, candidates took to the ground in one final bid to gather voters.
In Mustafabad, the fight is tough and an important one. This time, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is fielding Mohan Singh Bisht—the sitting MLA from adjacent Karawal Nagar; from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Adil Ahmad Khan—a journalist-turned-politician who has been with the party since the Anna Hazare movement; Congress is fielding Ali Mehdi, the son of popular leader and ex-MLA Hasan Mehdi, who held the seat from 2008 to 2016; and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM—which is contesting elections in Delhi for the first time—has fielded Tahir Hussain, a UAPA prisoner who is incarcerated for his alleged role in the 2020 pogrom.
The constituency of Mustafabad was carved out in 2008 and has a roughly 40% Muslim population. The constituency mostly comprises low-income and middle-class families, who are primarily engaged in running factories, shops, businesses, and labor work. Most of the families migrated from Uttar Pradesh.
There are 262,642 voters in the constituency, and in the past two elections, the seat was won by AAP’s Haji Yunus in 2020 and BJP’s Jagdish Pradhan in 2015. Before that, Congress’s Hasan Mehdi won two consecutive elections.
Five years since the AAP government won in Delhi, and the same time since the pogrom happened, the national capital’s electoral politics has seen a massive shift. While many believe BJP will give a tough fight this time, Mustafabad has an interesting political battle unfolding.
The Muslim population, which after the pogrom had expressed anger towards AAP and shifted towards Congress, seems to be circling back to the former party.
The reason is desperation to not let BJP come to power. This time, the saffron party has communalized the Legislative Assembly elections, with many BJP leaders giving outrageous hate speeches against Muslims.
While AAP is gaining control, Congress has also started reviving slowly. But the divided votes can pose a problem, local “expert” uncles believe.
The reason for such shifts has come as a boon for both AAP and Congress. Suddenly, rumors have started floating around the constituency: “If BJP comes to power, it will change the name of Mustafabad,” said Mudassir, a resident of Mustafabad.
The locals have alleged that Bisht has given statements promising to change the name of Mustafabad. The rumors have become a part of every political discussion.
Meanwhile, posters of the kite—the symbol of AIMIM—can be seen everywhere. Small offices have been set up to manage the campaign. But does the former AAP councillor have any backing?
“People have sympathy for him and they know about the sacrifices he has made for the community, but the elections have become a different fight,” Nisar Ahmad, a resident of Mustafabad, told Maktoob.
Campaigning on behalf of CPI(M), which is contesting elections from Karawal Nagar—another crucial Northeast constituency—Ahmed, who is a victim of the violence, said that the Muslim community in Mustafabad is divided.
“The vote seems to be divided between AAP, Congress, and AIMIM. However, ever since Bisht has threatened to change the name of Mustafabad, people are realizing they will have to unite,” he added.
Locals believe the real picture will be seen once the model code of conduct is implemented and people have time to think. But in the game of politics, there has been no conversation about the victims or their cases.
For Ahmed, whose house was burnt by a Hindu mob in Bhagirathi Vihar, where he was one of the few Muslim families, the fight has been long and hard. As the mob chanted “Kill all Muslims,” Ahmed’s Sikh neighbor helped them escape. He saw his neighbor’s house being burnt and the men stripped naked.
Ahmed realized there was no point in hiding and, despite reasoning with the mob, was attacked. His family was injured, but with his quick wit, he managed to find a way and ran from roof to roof. “We were barefoot when we reached Mustafabad,” he said.
Ahmed, who is also a social activist, left behind his home, which he had built with sacrifices and hard work. “I have had to start from scratch,” he added.
While the trauma of that day still lingers in his mind, he is disappointed that many in the community seem to have forgotten it. “I guess it only means those who lost something care. Others have stopped caring,” he added.
For Aghaz Hussan, a quiet man in his 60s whose young son was killed by a Hindu mob, there is only one thing left to say: people have forgotten.
For Shabnam Nafisa Kalim, a 25-year-old social activist, elections mean nothing to the victims of the pogrom. A resident of Mustafabad, Kalim saw how political parties ignored her people after the pogrom, and instead of waiting for them to act, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
It was then that she founded AMMA Library in Chand Bagh, located on the edge of Mustafabad.
Kalim, who had also led the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests in Mustafabad, had opened a library back then as well.
“When the anti-CAA protest happened and many people came down to protest against it, many from the community felt the need to do something. Without education, that conversation on change could not happen,” she told Maktoob from inside the AMMA Library.
Kalim, who had volunteered to help victims after the Delhi pogrom, realized that the need for education was imperative and hence started her struggles to open libraries in Northeast Delhi.
As of now, three libraries are functioning in the area—one in Mustafabad, Chand Bagh, and Khajuri Khas.
With a footfall of more than 200 children every day, the library has become a haven for many children belonging to economically weaker sections, irrespective of their identity.
“A library is a form of institution where a student not only gets books for education but also becomes part of a network of people from various fields,” Kalim explained.
When asked what she thinks about the elections this time, Kalim said none of the candidates have even touched on the issue of education in their campaign. “Votes are being bought, but there is literally no conversation on how they will change the face of our schools, and we don’t expect it from anyone,” she added.
Kalim said that previous leaders have not done anything substantial for the constituency. “And it does not matter whether they are Muslim leaders. No one has worked for the benefit of the people,” she added.
Among Hindu voters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be the major driving force behind their choice.
Ram Kumar, a resident of Johripur, believes Modi is doing an ample amount of work for the country.
An auto driver, Kumar said that he personally feels AAP failed to provide development in Northeast Delhi. When asked if he knew the candidates contesting this time, he had no idea.
“We are voting for Modi,” he concluded.
As the sun set and people gathered around tea stalls, discussions over politics took over. From afar, it seems that things have gone back to normal and the visions of fire and dead bodies that once gripped Northeast Delhi have healed. But when one looks within, the cracks are visible.
“If you ask me personally, there is no point in voting. It won’t matter if I vote or not because my life has stopped in 2020. I suffer from health ailments, I lost my brother, my business, and now I struggle to take care of my family. For me, that is the biggest concern. All these political leaders just used us to make a name and did nothing. I feel disgusted,” Saleem said.
Prior to the 2015 polls, Muslim voters were considered part of Congress’s support base in Delhi, fueling the party’s victory under Sheila Dikshit’s leadership for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2013.
Along with Dalits and slum cluster residents, the Muslim community, which accounts for about 13% of Delhi’s 1.55 crore voters, played a key role in ensuring AAP’s sweep in the 2015 and 2020 Assembly polls, when the party bagged 67 and 62 seats out of 70, respectively.
Delhi will vote on February 5, and results will be announced on February 8.
