Like others of his family, he is reluctant to reveal his full name, apprehending he'll be singled out by the ``others''. All skin and bones, he adds in a whisper, ``I have not eaten for the last four days. We are living in kabrastan''.

His is not the only family to be living under the constant shadow of fear. The terror that had been kept at bay since the December 1992 riots in the wake of the Babri Masjid episode has returned to grip them after the police personnel deployed to oversee the Ganpati immersions were withdrawn.

It all began a couple of months ago, when three Muslim students allegedly desecrated a Saraswati idol in a school. The Sangh Parivar, which failed to effect a social and economic boycott of Muslims in the communal strife-stricken Bardoli town -- barely 60 km away from Vansda -- around the same time, played up the issue. And to all intents and purposes, it has succeeded in driving in a wedge between the two communities.

``Kill us if you like, then there won't be anyone left to fight'', says a bitter Muslim man. ``They won't even let us beg for a living.'' A woman joins in, claiming that Muslims weren't being allowed to board State Transport buses. In Nava Falia and Machhiwad, Hindu landlords are allegedly evicting Muslim tenants.

While half the town seems ignorant of any tensions, in the other, they are more than evident. A Hindu shopkeeper holds the Muslims responsible for this state of affairs. ``They are being instigated by a handful of Muslims from Uttar Pradesh. How else would they dare to take us on?'' he retorts angrily when asked how a handful of Muslims they are outnumbered many times by Hindus in this town was ``conspiring'' against Hindus.

The minority community, on its part, thinks ``outsiders'' are responsible for the riots. ``All attacks have occurred in the night. We've stopped sleeping in the nights these days, wondering if our house will be the next target'', says a family in Champawadi. The most recent evidence of the rift between the two communities came on the last day of the Ganpati celebrations, though no one is certain what exactly triggered it all off. A group of Ganpati revellers allegedly stoned a mosque -- a fact Muslims themselves aren't unanimous about -- and in retaliation, some Muslim youths went about damaging Hindu property.

Says Gulam Bashir Ibrahimbhai, president of the mosque trust, ``It will be a long time before inter-community relations return to normal''. No one disputes that statement.

Charges attributing the rise of ill-will to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, of course, are hotly denied. ``I dare them to name a single Hindu hooligan'', counters local VHP chief Rasik Surti. ``An issue is being cooked up where there is none''.

Apart from charges levelled by one community against another, allegations are aplenty against the police. ``Section 144 is applicable only to Muslims, while Hindus are free to move around in groups'', says one of the police's partisan role.

Policemen deny the charge. ``We investigated every case and made arrests on merit. So what if all the arrested happened to be Muslim?'', says a police officer. Pointing to a Muslim woman handing over a tiffin box to her relative in custody, he adds, ``This proves even Muslim women are moving about freely''.

As peace committees hold meetings and issue appeals asking both communities to observe restraint, one thing becomes obvious: the days of inter-community trust and camaraderie have been done to death by suspicion, rumours and active violence.