India | Updated Sep 23, 2008 at 03:59pm IST

Jamia Nagar wants to know real shootout story

New Delhi: While the Delhi police have a foolproof story on the Jamia Nagar shootout, but in times of terror, not everybody is convinced.

In Jamia Nagar, the scene of the gunbattle between police and suspected terrorists, everybody wants to know beyond the official version.

“Many people who I talk to say that the truth will never come out. One of the reasons is that Sharma is dead, the killers and the targets are dead and the truth can never come out,” says Jamia Lecturer, Adil Mehdi.

Mehdi is a lecturer of post colonial literature at Jamia Millia Islamia. He is anxious about young students who seem to be feeling threatened and vulnerable after the incident.

“The people who live in hostels are safe, people who live outside have not been sleeping in their flats. They feel that they can be picked up, attendance in the class has been thin and boys feel more vulnerable,” says Mehdi.

The only student who agreed to speak with CNN-IBN did that on the condition of not being named.

“We have to keep in mind people who were encountered (sic). Yes, if they were culprits they met their faith but as a layman if they shot in a room, there was no room for them to escape. They should have been shot in the leg, they should have undergone trial and if they are guilty, then yes, hang them if you want,” he said.

The police crackdown in a largely residential locality has led to a perception of victimization.

Abu Saleh Sherrif, the economist who drafted the Sachar panel report on the condition of the Muslims, worries about the Muslim middle class.

“The Muslim community is slowly losing the sense of ownership of community, of state and of the country,” he says.

There are also voices which insist that the minority cannot afford to live in isolation, especially now. Justice MSA Siddique, Chairman, National Commission for Minority Education, puts it right. “Sahara lena padta hai mujhe daria ka, main katra hoon akela toh beh nahi sakta (I have to flow along with the flow, after all, I am just a droplet and can’t drift alone.)”

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