‘Muslim Brothers Protecting Me Today’: Hindu Bride Weds in Delhi

Image for representational purposes.

(Photo: iStockphoto)

Twenty-three-year-old Savitri, a Hindu woman living in the Muslim-majority Chand Bagh district, married her fiance Gulshan on Wednesday, 26 February.

Her wedding, originally scheduled for Tuesday, had to be postponed due to the communally-charged violence in northeast Delhi, reported Reuters.

However, Savitri’s father Bhoday Prasad organised the wedding the very next day, saying his Muslim neighbours were family and he was comforted by their presence, according to the news agency.

“My Muslim brothers are protecting me today.”

Savitri Prasad, to Reuters

Northeast Delhi’s Chand Bagh is one of the worst-hit areas in the violence. Intelligence Bureau (IB) official Ankit Sharma’s body was recovered from a drain there on Wednesday, reported ANI.

Bhoday Prasad told Reuters that he has lived in the area for years alongside Muslims without any trouble. “We don’t know who the people behind the violence are, but they are not my neighbours. There is no enmity between Hindus and Muslims here,” he said.

When the violence erupted he was compelled to ask the groom to not come to their house for the sake of safety. However, since the next day was relatively calmer, he decided to go ahead with a quiet ceremony in which their Muslim neighbours also gathered to offer blessings.

“We are everything for them. It’s been like that. We are here for them,” Aamir Malik, who was stood guard with other men outside the home, told Reuters.

Delhi Police Joint Commissioner OP Mishra on Thursday claimed that the process of normalisation in the Chand Bagh area has started.

Massive violence had erupted in parts of Delhi on Monday as anti-Citizenship law and pro-Citizenship law groups got into a scuffle that escalated into stone-pelting and arson resulting in the death of 39, including that of a policeman.

The Delhi Police has transferred the northeast Delhi riots probe to the crime branch, and the cases will be probed by two Special Investigation Teams (SITs), officials told PTI on Thursday. The police have so far filed 48 FIRs.

(With inputs from Reuters and ANI)