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Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam, Mohd Irshad Alam
(This story was first published on 29 August 2018. It is being reposted from The Quint's archives to commemorate six years to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.)
These words were said by an emotionally charged Ravindra, who lost his son Gaurav in Muzaffarnagar riots. These riots happened 5 years ago but their wounds are still fresh.
Ravindra is distraught because of his son’s death. He is also saddened by the fact that politicians used his son’s death for political mileage. On 27 August 2013, the first incident that triggered the Muzaffarnagar riots took place in Kawal village. An altercation between Sachin, Gaurav and Shahnawaz was turned into a riot.
Five years later, The Quint reached ground zero to know what had happened.
Shahnawaz’s uncle Haji Naseem took us to the spot where it all started. Naseem said that Shahnawaz was dragged out of his house by people and killed.
The family of Sachin and Gaurav claim that Shahnawaz was a crook who would eve-tease the girls of their family.
This news spread around Muzaffarnagar like wildfire. After this, some people started painting the incident in communal colour.
Three families lost their children and the incident triggered a riot in Muzaffarnagar. Families of victims on both sides are unhappy with the way the incident was treated. Gaurav’s father says:
(This story was originally published on Quint Hindi and was translated by Anubhav Mishra)
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