Mohd. Nawaz is a worried man. A riotous mob burnt down his house 10 days ago at Arsh Mahal in Kishanbagh, reducing his belongings to ashes.
More than the agony of losing clothes, money and groceries, the 27-year-old auto-rickshaw driver disturbed at having lost all his documents.
“My Aadhaar card, birth certificate, driving licence, ration card and other documents kept in the cupboard were reduced to ashes when the miscreants set ablaze my house,” Nawaz recalls.
“Getting copies will now be a challenge. And I have to approach brokers to get them, as I cannot afford to keep away from work for days at a stretch,” he says.
Nawaz’s neighbour Sadiya Begum also faces a similar predicament. Apart from proofs of identity and birth certificates of her four school-going children, she lost her ration card and her mother’s pension book.
It is the same story for other families bracing for another fight against the administration now.
“Everyone knows how difficult it is it to get any certificate or ration card from a government office. We have neither the influence nor the money to get them quickly,” says Sadiq, a daily wager who too lost birth certificates and other documents in the arson.
Eight houses were down on Wednesday last after violence broke out over the burning of a religious flag in the area. Affected families allege that no official from the district administration had approached them till date.
“Voluntarily organisations donated groceries, clothes and money, but none from the government have come forward,” laments Nabi Miya, a victim.
