The communal riots that ravaged the North-East Delhi in February 2020, in which lives, livelihood and properties were lost in large numbers, brought with it a formidable realisation -- the need to step up and act right away, for the upliftment and betterment of the Muslim community, and humanity at large. There were tales of horror pouring in from NE Delhi’s Maujpur, Gokulpuri, Shiv Vihar, Mustafa
bad and Khajuri Khas, the so-called Muslim ghettos, as we sat in fear in our homes. A large number of people whose houses were destroyed or burnt down to ground took refuge in the camps that were set up at Chaman Park and Mustafabad Eidgah. As we read about the riot victims and heard their spine-chilling tales in videos on social media, a few of my friends and I decided to reach out to them with whatever means we had. We visited the camps and listed down the things that people needed the most while thinking out ways to gather funds. But before we could put our plan into action, a sudden lockdown was clamped down in the country We effected a change in plan for the time being -- the need of the hour was to reach out to migrant workers and daily wagers who were walking home that was hundreds of kilometres away,
On March 22, the day the Janta Curfew was imposed, we formed a Jamia Residents’ Forum, which comprised professionals, students and homemakers and also put up a post for crowdfunding. The response was so encouraging that in a matter of a few weeks we could help people not only in several parts of Delhi-NCR but also different cities like Lucknow, Ludhiana, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Patna and Ranchi. By the end of May we could provide ration kits to 16,000 households and leveraged many health and other entitlements through lobbying, liasioning and crowdfunding. We reached out rural areas Katamkuli, Sukurhuttu, Khakra, Kokdoro, Uruguttu, of Jharkhand with rations. Then, as the lockdown was lifted partially, we turned our attention towards the rehabilitation of the pogrom-affected households. We started with food kits and healthcare followed by financial assistance for starting small-scale businesses that were destroyed by the rioters. So far, we have rehabilitated around 100 families and there are more on the way. We have also funded marriages of the poor, orphaned pogrom survivor girls. Then, we have also paid fees of students who couldn’t afford it due to loss of livelihoods in lockdown and other reasons. We were also involved in relief works of flood affected areas of Bihar. We have been consistently working with migrant workers and daily wagers, at par and in coordination with other established organizations doing similar works. We realized that what we have done is not even a drop in the ocean. We needed to do way more and be more organized. My family and friends, therefore, said it was best to formalize the organization, which would work for poor and other marginalized groups in health, education, rehabilitation, human rights issues. Hence, the Trust - Khudaiimdad.
