While residents of the violence-affected areas of Muzaffarnagar district were leaving their homes and neighbourhoods to avoid the bloodshed, members of two Hindu families, the only two in the mainly Muslim Laddawala Colony here, stayed on unperturbed by any threats, real or imagined.
While thousands fled their houses after the communal clashes started on September 7, these two families did not even think of taking any such step as they felt quite safe where they were.
The reason: their faith in the members of Laddawala's majority community.
Hazi Imran Ansari, member of ward 31 and a resident of the colony, said, "We have been living here like families for the past many decades and under no circumstance would allow communal tension to break this bond of brotherhood."
Mitra Sen Verma, a retired subedar, lives in his house in the colony, close to some other relatives of his, adding up to a total of 25 people.
His nephew, Mukesh Kumar Verma, a salesman, said, "Our families have been living here for many generations now.
"We never faced any discrimination or threats; on the contrary they ensure our safety and security," he added.
Ram Singh, a mechanic who lives with his three children in the locality, said, "It is all politics to pit the two communities against each other. There is no animosity between us. There are also two temples in the area whose safety the majority community has taken into its hands since the communal clashes began."
Meanwhile, a few members of the families who fled from Kutba and Kutbi villages returned to collect their belongings. But the thought of settling back in those villages was out of the question for them right now, they said.
