Bishada village shot into notoriety after the lynching in 2015 of Mohammad Akhlaq by a mob, allegedly following rumours that he had stored beef in his house. Among the 18 accused arrested for the murder is Vishal Rana, son of local BJP leader Sanjay Rana.
The scars left by the incident refuse to heal with families of the accused preferring to stay away from the Minister’s rally. “I worked extensively for BJP. I know Home Minister Rajnath Singh is coming to the village but I will not attend the rally as we do not want to align with any political party,” said Sanjay Rana.
Residents of Bishada prefer not to discuss the events surrounding the murder of Akhlaq. But they feel the incident was hijacked by vested interests for political gains.
Om Mahesh, a resident, said top leaders of all political parties, including Rahul Gandhi, Arvind Kejriwal and Asaduddin Owaisi, had visited Bishada after the incident, but not a single development project had materialised.
“There are potholes on the roads. We don’t have pure drinking water. The quality of groundwater is deteriorating by the day. Power supply is erratic,” he said. There is no hospital in the village. There is only one school in the village. The number of students has increased now. We need a separate school for girls,” he added.
The residents are tired of the unfulfilled promises made by politicians. “BSP candidate Satveer Singh Gurjar won the Assembly election twice from Dadri constituency, but never visited the village. We want our elected candidate to address our problems,” they say.
