“We would have died had Sumit bhaiya not asked his brother to help us escape as angry mob stormed our home,” said Sadiq Khan, a resident of Sanjay Nagar, Khargone.
At around 7 pm, Sumit Chandoke, a medical professional, received a distress call from his friend Sadiq who was crying for help hiding in his home while a mob pelted stones and banged on his door.
“We were in our house and were about to break our fast following the Ramzan fasting when we heard loud noises and people shouting. We rushed out and saw a pool of people armed to their teeth and with murderous rage in their eyes. They had by the time burned down the neighbouring house, it was then that I truly feared that they are going to kill my family."Sadiq Khan.
“I called one of my friends Sumit Chandoke who despite suffering from necrosis in the hips quickly came to our aid,” he added.
The clashes first erupted at Talab Chowk on Sunday, 10 April, and spread to other localities, including Sanjay Nagar, Qazipura, Tavdi Mohalla, Anand Nagar, Bhausar Mohalla and Khaskhaswadi.
“When I got a call, I asked my brother to go and rescue Sadiq and his family. He pushed through the mob to help Sadiq while the mob set ablaze their house. After getting them to a safe location he came back and picked Sadiq’s vehicle which the rioters were trying to burn down,” Sumit recalled.
Sumit Chandoke who rushed his brother to help said that he couldn’t have even thought of abandoning his friend.
Sumit told The Quint that their attempt to protect Sadiq and his family was met with hostility by the mob and his brother was harassed.
Sumit and Sadiq have known each other for the last five years and Sadiq had stood by him when he underwent surgery for his hip necrosis and it was only humane to help out his friend in such difficult times.
In another case of humanity trumping religious aggression, Shyam Prajapati, another resident of Sanjay Nagar, opened his door for Noor Jahan and her daughter-in-law Najma Bi on the night of the Khargone clashes.
“I was alone with my daughter-in-law Najma Bi when the mob came. They were trying to get into my house and we were trying to keep them from entering. When they didn’t succeed they left but I and my daughter-in-law were terrified to live through the night. It was our neighbour Suman didi who asked us to go over to her house."Noor Jahan.
Suman Prajapati, in her late 40s, emphatically said that she had known Noor Jahan and Najma for ages and she couldn’t have allowed any harm to come to them.
“It was risky to leave them alone as there was a lot of scuffle going on, so I called them to my house. It’s the least I could have done,” Suman Prajapati said.
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