A year after India’s capital saw its worst communal riots in decades, many of the Muslim victims say they have come repeatedly up against refusal by police to investigate complaints against Hindu rioters.
Some hope the courts will still come to their aid. But others now believe the justice system under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has become stacked against them.
Adding to the sense of injustice is that accounts from Muslim victims as well as reports from rights groups have indicated that leaders of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and the New Delhi police force tacitly supported the Hindu mobs during the fevered violence.
A year on, many Muslim victims of the riots are still fear further bloodletting. Hundreds have abandoned their gutted homes and moved elsewhere, many forced to sell up at throwaway prices.
Those who chose to stay have fortified their neighbourhoods with metal gates in case of more mob attacks. Many say they fear those responsible will never be held to account.
“Everything has changed since the riots,” said Muhammad Nasir Khan, who was shot in his left eye during the violence. “I think I am slowly losing all my hopes of justice.”