Hope of compensation for families of those missing in riots

Nearly five years after a frenzied mob dragged her husband and son out of their house at Sanman Nagar, Wadala, never to be seen alive again, Ferozabi Quereshi is seeking compensation for the surviving members of her family. “Both my son Asif and husband Mohammed Rafeeq came out of the house holding hands when the mob banged on our doors that January morning,” remembers Ferozabi. While Mohammed’s body was found subsequently, there is no trace of Asif till today. On police records, he continues to be a missing person as a result of which his family is not eligible for the Rs 2 lakh compensation that the relatives of the people killed in the riots have got. This compensation amount is borne equally by the central and state governments and disbursed by the collectors’ offices in the city and the suburbs.Asif is one of 165 persons, Hindus and Muslims, declared missing in the aftermath of the riots that rocked Mumbai in 1992-1993.

The relatively small Sanman Nagar slums accounted for nine persons declared missing during the riots. “Of the 30 or so families residing here at that time, there were one or two deaths in each house. Many bodies were never recovered,” says Shabbir Kasam Sheikh who lost two nephews, Mohammed Ishaq and Hassan Ali, in the bloodbath. The elder left behind a widow and two young children. The family now ekes a living cooking and cleaning for affluent residents in the area.

Each one of the seven or eight Muslim families left behind in the Sanman Nagar slum has a similar tale to tell. “My grandchildren still in school will have some security if the government releases the compensation for my son-in-law,” says Sadiqa Ansari. Her daughter’s husband Noorullah Sheikh and his nephew Nasir were at home when they were killed. “The police made enquiries here and in our native village, but could not trace him. They have classified him as missing,” wails Sadiqa.

Unfortunately for the victims’ families no one is willing to give eye-witness account of the violence. “My brother who was badly injured in the attack saw the mob pouring acid over my father before setting him afire, but none of our neighbours testified before the police,” says Musafreen Ibrahim. “Maybe they are afraid of the police or they could have been part of the attackers,” says Shabbir Sheikh. According to Fazal Shad the indifference of the police during the riots posed problems in identifying several of the dead. “As per police testimonies in the Srikrishna Commission, 168 bodies were disposed off by the authorities as unclaimed. If only the police had allowed claimants to inspect the dead at various morgues instead of shooing them away, this problem would not have arisen,” he told Express Newsline.

Shad who represents the Bombay Aman Committee felt that the government should release at least a part of the compensation money on humanitarian grounds. “Let the government keep 70 per cent of the money and release the rest to the families of dependents. The families of the missing persons could sign indemnity forms promising to return the money if the victims are traced subsequently,” said Shad.