'Terror of communal forces won't affect us'

As two truckloads of policemen negotiate through a serpentine narrow road that leads to the main bazaar the residents of Bhadarsa a dusty town known as Mini Pakistan start feeling the heat of what is brewing in the sensitive precinct of Faizabad district which was recently renamed AyodhyaThe weekend has brought the locals face to face with their greatest fear thanks to the jamboree planned by the Shiv Sena Vishva Hindu Parishad and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh While Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray will be meeting thousands of Hindu saints and religious heads a VHPRSS backed rally is scheduled in Ayodhya today The demand for constructing the Ram temple without any further delay is heard everywhere with the uproarious chanting of Jai Shri Ram and pehle mandir phir sarkarMunir Khan Shahid Siddiqui Sajid Khan Bhagwatiprasad extreme right hope that politicos wont disturb the peaceThe atmosphere in Ayodhya remained highly charged on Saturday The locals were keen to see late Bal Thackerays son in action and anxious to know what message he would send out to Narendra Modis government The security forces were put on a high alert making the precinct a heavilyguarded citadelLessons from the pastBhadarsa has been able to recover from the ugly past In 2012 the town which is 20 km from the disputed site has seen a riot during the Durga puja utsav The wounds of the 199293 riots were still fresh then It has rarely seen communal tension in the past six years except for small incidents that were blamed on rumoursShiv Sena party workers at maha aarti held at Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai on Saturday PicAshish RajeThe town is dominated politically by Muslims as they have the maximum number of elected representatives in the 110yearold nagar palika The Hindu population is not small but prefers to live in peace with their Muslim brethren The seniors from both communities assure no disturbance come what may will overcast their town this weekend or in the first week of December when the Babri demolition day is observed amid tight securityWe want peaceBut do they want the Ram temple Yes locals said but without any violence They want the law of the land to prevail and peace and prosperity for the two communities that have mended their ways despite being so close to the epicentre of the countrys sociopolitical dispute which remains unsolved after the Babri demolition 26 years ago All of us have suffered a lot recalled Munir Khan 57 a tailor from MumbaiSecurity forces were put on high alert on SaturdayHe remembers the gory riots in the financial capital post the Babri demolition I have been working in Mumbai for 36 years How can I forget those three days when not only my family but other Hindu families too suffered greatly We went without food for three days and were scared to go out I left Mumbai immediately after the riots and returned only after a year he saidKhan who lives in Malvani is here on vacation He said the communal riots affected the society in many ways Many people from our town quit jobs in Mumbai and returned home Any further riots would have a similar impact when the youth from all communities dont have jobs in UP or elsewhere he saidBhagwatiprasad alias Dayaluji Gupta who heads the local traders association said he is a proud Hindu mdash he wears a tilak all the time mdash but doesnt treat Muslims as his enemies The people of this town have faith in unity There have been rumours about tension in Ayodhya but we always try not to believe in hearsay We identify troublemakers and force them to mend their ways he said adding that the dahashat terror of communal forces wont affect their daily livesPanchayat member Sajid Khan who runs a tailoring shop said the 30000odd residents of Bhadarsa have learned from the mistakes of the past His Hindu colleague in the palika endorsed his view All must follow brotherhood Here Hindus and Muslims are treated as equalsLet the law prevailAnother local Ramesh Sahu slammed the erratic forces from both communities Faizabad has been renamed Ayodhya and do you know what Ayodhya means It means a place where no yuddh war is held He said apasi sulah greater understanding between the communities is the only solution to resolve the temple issue Let the law prevail Let the Supreme Court decide itShahid Siddiqui who said he supported the Congress trusts the administration and police rather than the political leadership of the state and country Sab sahame hue hai people are scared Muslims want justice They want both the Ram temple and masjid Thats the way to end the dispute he saidLocals said they would stand in solidarity with the Hindus and Muslims if they are forced to flee their homes in case the tension builds up There have been instances of people from Ayodhya and Faizabad taking shelter here in Bhadarsa We will welcome them this time as well said Munir Khan recalling once again the Mumbai riots in which Hindus saved Muslims and Muslims too reciprocated Meanwhile the police are trying to find a place to park their trucks on the road that can hardly facilitate movement of widebodied vehiclesCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates