A fortnight after a man was lynched over rumours that he stored beef at his house leading to division in the two communities in the Bisara village near Dadri, on Sunday Hindus joined their Muslim brethren in making preparations for the wedding of two girls belonging to the minority community.
Hakeem, who until a few days ago was thinking of shifting the wedding venue of his daughters, was a relaxed man as he went about making the arrangements as the majority Hindus not only assured him of security of his family and guests, but also actively participated in preparing for the feast and other logistics.
Marriage of Hakeem’s daughters was scheduled to be held on Sunday but due to the recent tension in the village, he was unsure about the wedding ceremony. However, Hakeem had a a sigh of relief when a group of villagers, belonging to majority community, came forward to help him to marry off his daughters. The wedding ceremony was in primary school and the group made all arrangements for tent, food and other necessities.
Overwhelmed to see the support and love of the group of villagers accused of mob-lynching, Hakeem said: “Our village is like one big family. We always extended help to each other in trouble. Hindus from the village are helping me financially and physically. It feels like they are marrying off their own daughters.”
A police officer was quoted as saying, “After the lynching, the groom’s family had said they would not want to come to Bisara. So, there was talk of shifting the venue. But that has been sorted out. Now, there is peace in the village. Things are getting back to normal.”
Bisara had no history of communal disharmony until September 28 when it earned notriety after Mohammed Akhlaq, a 50-year-old blacksmith and handyman, was bludgeoned to death by a frenzied mob following rumours that he and his family had eaten and stored beef.
His son Danish, 22, was critically wounded and was out of ICU only a couple of days ago.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate RK Singh said normalcy was gradually returning to Bisara.