‘My hard work of 10 yrs was not enough to get justice’

As the faithful kneeled down for the zohar namaaz Monday afternoon in this quiet Muslim resettlement of Visnagar, tears rolled down their cheeks when they heard about the acquittal of politicians who had allegedly led the riots in their native Dipda Darwaza village.

These 17 Muslim families, uprooted from their native village, are now living a secluded life in Ayazi Colony, built by the Islamic Relief Committee at outskirts of Visnagar.

All the 11 who died in the massacre — the youngest was a one-and-a-half-years-old boy — were from Yusuf Sheikh's family. A helpless Yusuf now says after the verdict, "Das saal ki mehnat thi jo lagta hai aaj bahut kam pad gayi (It was hard work of 10 years that I feel now was too little to get justice)".

His old neighbour Shabbir Baloch points towards the former BJP MLA Prahlad Gosa and says, "He has got acquitted by the court here but we won't leave him."

Shabbir's daughter Parveen misses her old mohalla and friends who went to school with her.

Saidabibi Sindhi, who stays next to Shabbir's house, says, "We had a kuccha roof in Dipda but that gave us more happiness than this new house."

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