Noor Jehan with her newborn daughter
For nine months, Noor Jehan and her husband had saved and drawn up careful plans for how their seventh child would be born. The couple, which survives on Arshad's income of about Rs 3000 a month, knew hand-me-downs were all they could afford for their baby, but they would do everything they could to ensure it was safe.
When Noor Jehan finally delivered a girl early this morning, it was at a makeshift refugee camp, 40 kilometres from Muzaffarnagar, which has been pulverised by communal riots since Saturday evening. 38 people have died. Villages where Muslims and Hindus lived have seen large evacuations by the community that was in a minority.
Noor Jehan and Arshad, a farmer, left their village, dominated by Jat farmers, along with hundreds of other Muslim families. They walked five kilometres and then travelled another 10 on a tractor to get to Jaula, where Muslims are in the majority. Women are staying in the houses of kind strangers or distant relatives. Men sleep in the madarsas.
32-year-old mother Noor Jehan breaks down as she recounts the journey. "I wondered several times whether I would be able to save my children. When we were fleeing, we were worried that someone might be following to kill us. In the hurry I fell several times while running. "
The inception point for the riots was the alleged stalking of a teen girl in the village of Kawal by a young Muslim boy. Her brothers shot him, then were lynched to death less than an hour later. To prevent the violence from ricocheting through other villages, local officials banned public meetings, which were ignored by politicians across parties who delivered incendiary speeches to both communities. On Saturday evening, thousands of Jat farmers attended a large rally in Kawal. On their way home, they were attacked. The army was called in, but the violence continued till Sunday evening. Today, curfew was lifted for the first time in Muzaffarnagar for four hours.
Jaula has turned into a shelter for 5000 outsiders like Noor Jehan and other Muslims like her, but there is little assistance from officials. An ambulance made a short visit yesterday. The government is not depositing any food; villagers are sharing meals with the newcomers.
"Our supplies will run out in 10 days at the most," says Mohammed Usman, a teacher at a local madarsa. "Officials only come to appeal for peace. They say they will help with arrangements, but nothing happens," he said.
18-year-old Rukaiya arrived here three days ago with her elderly and sick mother. There is no doctor who can attend to her. A Jat village nearby has a hospital, but Rukaiya has been advised not to venture there.
She wishes she could return to her own home. It is so near and yet so far.