Basirhat: The residents in West Bengal’s Basirhat, North 24 Paraganas district which recently saw communal clashes appeared more concerned about maintaining communal harmony.
Now that peace is crawling its way back in Basirhat, Muslims in the area come forward to help Hindu neighbours and are pooling in money to rebuild their gutted shops and houses, reported Indian Express.
Nearly a hundred shops and houses were allegedly ransacked during the violence.
Ajay Pal, a shopkeeper, had lost goods worth over Rs 15,000 when hundreds of people came and ransacked his shop.
“They took away everything. I do not know why. My neighbours and Muslim friends are now offering me money to restart my business. I will take a decision soon,” he told The Indian Express.
“Even after the demolition of the Babri mosque, our town remained peaceful. What happened since Tuesday was not right. Some outsiders and some of our local boys are to blame. But now we are pooling money for our Hindu neighbours. We want them to forget the losses and start afresh,” one Md Noor Islam Gaji, a local businessman, told the newspaper.
Violent clashes erupted on Tuesday after a 17-year-old boy updated a blasphemous post on Facebook.