Social Isolation

This is not a post Godhra turn out nor we live in pre-1947, this is a heart boiling news happens in India.

"For the 40-odd Muslim households in Mankni, a small farming village nearly 70 km from Vadodara, life has changed irrevocably over the last month. Their fields lie untilled, no customers venture near their shops and other communities in the village boycott them for risk of a Rs 200 fine.

Sanjay Patel and Abdul Mansuri were friends and, residents of the village say, partners in the ‘satta’ trade. After a tiff over a deal, Sanjay was found murdered in a field on June 3. Abdul has since been arrested and faces charges of murder, but it's the Muslim villagers who have been sentenced to a life of isolation. Abdul's family has already shifted out of the village.

``Any villager who speaks to a Muslim or buys anything from us is fined Rs 200,'' says Sikandarbhai, a village elder.

For milk-seller and flour mill operator Rabiya Khatri, whose family is the only Muslim one on a Hindu street, there are no buyers for the milk or orders for the mill. ``The entire village is not bad, but there are a handful who have threatened all the residents. My daily help was also threatened,'' says Rabiya.

The complaint to the DSP about the boycott has also not gone down well. ``They are spoiling the name of our village. They were not harmed during the Godhra riots,'' says the sarpanch, who alleges that the trouble had been stoked not by Hindus from Mankni but outsiders.

Finally, he admits: ``We don't want to talk to them (Muslims) or have anything to do with them.''

Meanwhile, Vadodara DSP Siddharth Khatri says he has ordered a probe into the incident and expects a report within seven days. ``An official of the DySP rank and other officials have been trying for a compromise. It will take some time, hopefully everything will be alright soon,'' he says."

Full news here: Here, speaking to a Muslim means a Rs 200 fine

This is India mere jaan...this is India.. thank your stars & god and if u r a atheist like many of us, thank the social integrity in the south.