Govt. employee loses vision in Delhi riots

The man was shot at near his house in north-east Delhi on February 24

Mohammed Nasir Khan was shot at on February 24 during the riots that broke out in north-east Delhi, a few steps away from his house. He has permanently lost vision in the left eye.

Ghonda resident Nasir (34), a Delhi government employee and a former CISF official, thought he would be safe in his area since locals knew him as a man who helped people prepare for civil services examination and fitness. But he was proved wrong.

‘Concealed identity’

Recalling the day, Mr. Nasir who works as Junior Assistant with National Cadet Corps, said that he was on his way back from a private hospital in Shalimar Bagh with his mother and sister in a cab when he was stopped by a mob in Khajuri Khas. “It was around 3.30 p.m. I knew the situation was turning tense. While in the cab, I had already asked my mother to remove her burqa so that we were not identified as Muslims. When the mob intercepted us, they asked my name and I lied. I told them my name’s Krishna. I also told them that my sister is ill and we were coming back from hospital. They let us go,” he said. The sister, he said, was admitted for a minor operation on February 22.

The cab driver then took the forested route and helped the family reach home safely. “Since the situation was tense outside, I offered the driver to stay at our house till it got better. An hour and a half later, he said he needed to go home because his wife was crying and worried for him,” he said.

Mr. Nasir decided to help the driver reach Gokulpuri junction safely and went with him in his car. While on his way back home on foot, he was spotted by a friend, a Hindu, who offered to drop him close to his house, till Vijay Park, to ensure his safety.

But when he reached the residential street, a mob caught hold of him and started thrashing him. “I told them I was a local and that we had been making sure the temple next to our house was safe, but they did not stop. They also kept on chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” In the meantime, another group arrived and he was suddenly shot at after which the people fled, he said.

“I was bleeding...a part of my skull was visible. I somehow managed to reach home. My father was standing outside. On seeing my condition, he started crying. We called the police but no one came,” he said.

He was then rushed to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital by a neighbour in an autorickshaw. “The mobs even tried to stop the autorickshaw, but they could not as my neighbour was driving very fast,” he said.

Mr. Nasir went under the knife. He said his plastic surgery was conducted and that the doctors took good care of him, but his vision is lost. He was released from the hospital five days ago.

“I am not sure if the loss of vision will impact my work. Thankfully, the other eye is fine. My family is thankful for the fact that I am alive,” he said.

Mr. Nasir lives with his parents, two sisters and two brothers in a double-storey house. He had quit the CISF job while under training, in two months, and started working at the NCC.