Riot-scarred Naroda Patiya residents have no hope from Gujarat elections

While people across Gujarat are eagerly awaiting the results of the Gujarat elections, the residents of Muslim-dominated Naroda Patiya, are the least enthused.

By Ravi Shankar

Naroda Patiya (Gujarat), Dec.14 : While people across Gujarat are eagerly awaiting the results of the Gujarat elections, the residents of Muslim-dominated Naroda Patiya, are the least enthused.

They believe their fate is not going to change, irrespective of who wins or lose at the end of the ongoing two-phased Assembly elections.

Their woes which started during the communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, have shown no signs of ending, be it basic civic facilities or personal security.

Many families pass their day in fear, as rumour mills are agog with talk of communal forces unleashing another wave of terror to win the elections.

"Our young daughters and daughters-in-law are very scared and they ask me to shift them from here, as they are worried about their safety. This is a question of our dignity and how long it will be at stake. Is it not the duty of the government to help us?" said Julekha Bano, a resident of Naroda-Patiya.

For the 5,000, people in Naroda-Patiya, hope does not exist. The area witnessed one of the most gruesome massacres during the 2002 communal riots.

Residents lament about their civic woes, a long pending demand that the BJP had promised to address, but the locality dominated by the minority community, is still reeling in sub-human conditions.

"Anybody may come to power, Narendra Modi or any other leader, but we are hardly concerned with that. What citizens want from the government is just food and safety, what else?" asked Husaina Aapa, a resident.

Most of the victims here are still to receive the compensation promised by the government for the loss they suffered in the riots.

The elections for the first phase of elections were held on December 11. The second phase of voting takes place on Dec. 16 and the results are expected on December 23.

ANI