Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Uttar Pradesh (East), surveyed the riot hit Tanda, Uttar Pradesh. Here is the survey report in brief.
It was 3 March and the clock was ticking 9 O’ clock in the night. Ram Babu Gupta, along with his elder brother, was returning from his restaurant as usual. He was walking on foot. The moment he reached Tirok Theatre Mod in Aliganj, some motorcycle-borne people approached him and opened fire at him. Having sustained bullet injuries, Ram Babu came down unconscious and it was deadly silence everywhere.
After only a few moments, a mob appeared and, in a planned way, it set ablaze several houses and shops of Muslims belonging to the nearby village Aliganj, Al Hadat Pur under Nai Basti, Sangram Pur. They also put on fire two buses, a jeep, an auto, a poultry farm, a wood store and two saw mills. Subsequently, the police arrived at the spot only to allow the rioters to set their van too on fire. The fire continued to flare up until the fire brigades reached at around 1 AM along with police force and extinguished it. Muslims left their houses and took refuge in the nearby crop field while some others left for other places in order to save their lives. Those who took shelter in the field have seen their own houses being ransacked, looted and set on fire.
Muslim villagers especially women are living under grave fear. They have a very dreadful and terrible story. Mr. Nasrullah sustained serious injuries and is now admitted in Lucknow. On the following day i.e. 4 March, some people pelted stones on the mosque and the Muazzin received injuries on the head. Mr. Bablu, resident of Nai Basti, Sangram Pur, lost all his poultries and belongings as the rioters set ablaze his poultry farm. A doctor walked out of his house on curfew day to have his feet injured in police lathi-charge. Unfortunately, the members of the survey team could not meet him.
“We found no damaged or demolished house belonging to a community other than Muslim. That is why it seems the riot was planned or one-sided. We find some burnt pages of the Holy Qur’ān as well,” reads the report. Though the process is going on yet, no one has received any compensation till date.
Ram Babu Gupta is the youngest among his seven brothers. One of his brothers runs a shop on rent in the market owned by Chauk Masjid. Some days earlier, he ransacked other neighbouring shops in the market at night. The owners, on seeing this following morning, sealed his shop for some days and though they were not in a mood to break the seal yet they did so on the request of the Muslim MLA of Tanda.
Details of victims and causalities
Sr. No
Names of victims
Place
Loss and its type
1
Ali Ahmad
AlHadat Pur, Babu Ganj, Tanda
House ransacked and looted
2
Mohd Javed
Do
Do
3
Abdur Rahman
Do
Do
4
Qutubuddin
Do
Do
5
Bablu
Nai Basti, Sangram Pur Area
House and Poultry farm looted,
set ablaze
6
Guddu
Do
House looted, set on fire,
turned into ashes
7
Muharram Ali
Do
Do
8
Sajida (widow)
Alhadat Pur, Babu Ganj, Tanda
Do
9
Chalo
Aliganj, Tanda
Do
10
Sultan
Do
Do
11
Mudassir
Do
Do
12
Mohd. Anwar
Do
Do
13
Shahzade
Do
Do
14
Azam
Do
Do
15
Abdul Kahaliq
Do
Do
16
Farooq Ahmad
Do
Shop ransacked, looted, set on fire
17
Seraj Ahmad
Do
Do
18
Akhtar Zama
Do
Do
19
Jilani
Do
Do
20
Munna Ahmad
Do
Do
21
Amanullah
Al Hadat Pur, Babu Ganj
Shop looted only, no fire
22
Nizamuddin
Do
Do
23
Iftikhar Ahmad
Do
Do
24
Rais Ahmad
Aliganj, Tanda
Do
25
Mohd. Rafiq
Do
Do
26
Gulam Ahmad
Nai Basti, Sangram Pur Ilaqa
Do
27
Mohd. Hussain
Do
Do
28
Tailor Master
Do
Do
29
Nuri Begum
(widow)
Aliganj, Tanda
Shop and house looted, set on fire