After the killing of 15-year-old Junaid Khan, a resident of the Khandawli village in Faridabad, most Muslim residents of his village, or in places in near by areas are scared for their lives. They are abstaining from wearing clothes that would reveal their identities as Muslims or letting their children celebrate.
Eid, a day of celebrations, was spent keeping in mind that anyone could be attacked at any time. The new white kurtas and skull caps that are such a common sight on the day of Eid, was rare.
A 27-year-old Mohd Azharuddin who works says that he has been targeted for wearing a skull cap.
The Indian Express quoted him as telling his children, "Kuchh mat bolo, chup chaap sab sun lo. (Don't say anything, quietly listen).When I leave home, I wear shirt-pant, not kurta-pyjama, because that way no one can tell I am Muslim, and I can avoid being called a Pakistani."
Not just gloom, Junaid's death has created a sense of panic among residents of Khandawli. Parents are instructing children to not step out of the village at all.
The Indian Express quoted 15-year-old Kamil Khan as saying, "They called Junaid a mulla and killed him. Our parents have told us not to talk to anyone we don't know and not to leave the village."
The train route where Junaid was killed, usually full of Muslims travelling to Delhi on Eid, did not see so many travellers this year. Eid came too close to the gruesome murder of the teenager. In Asaoti, Junaid's bloodstains can still be seen.
The Telegraph reports that when nine-year-old Amjad -- travelling on the train with his father, sister Zebunnisa, and elder brother -- was asked by a police officer the family knew why he wasn't wearing a kurta or a skull cap, he said, "Mummy ne mana kiya (Our mother asked us not to)."
The newspaper report suggested that other Muslims on the train were also not wearing clothes that could identify them as Muslims.
A municipal worker travelling to Palwal pointing out how there were visibly fewer Muslims on the train told The Telegraph, "The atmosphere has been spoilt. This hooliganism has started since (Narendra) Modi came to power in Delhi, Yogi (Adityanath) in Uttar Pradesh and (Manohar Lal) Khattar over here (Haryana)."
While the Electrical Multiple Unit train, that so many villagers of Khandawli use to travel to Delhi, has been deemed unsafe, the Delhi metro some say is no safer.
Scroll reported that pillars of metro stations of Old Faridabad and Escorts Munjesar have graffiti that says "Jai Gurudev, turn vegetarian, give up eggs, meat and fish" or "Jai Gurudev, only animals eat animals."
And few of the residents of the village feel that even while taking the metro they are profiled because of their appearance.
Mohammed Asruddin, a college student, told Scroll he has faced discrimination during his daily ride to South Delhi's Saket, with people calling him a 'mullah', giving him strange looks or refusing to share seats with him.
Also on HuffPost India
