2020 Delhi riots: Picking up their traumatised lives

Mental health concerns of the families of riot victims have received little government attention.

Shabnam’s sewing machine, which was damaged in the February 2020 riots.  | Photo Credit: By special arrangement

In February 2020, New Delhi was transitioning from winter to summer when Nisha, then 21, learned about the outbreak of violence in her neighbourhood in north-east Delhi. Like many others, she and her family were forced to flee their home in Shiv Vihar when a crowd of masked and helmeted men, armed with petrol-filled bottles and other deadly weapons, set fire to their home while chanting “Jai Shri Ram”.  

The Delhi Assembly election had just been held and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had returned to power with Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister. Why riots broke out after the election baffled Nisha.

Fifty-three people—38 Muslims and 15 Hindus—were killed in the violence, which broke out over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) introduced by the Central government. Many families lost livelihoods, life savings, and hopes for the future. According to human rights advocates, the mobs targeted Muslim homes and places of worship and the Delhi Police did little to stop it.

Nisha blames politicians and the police for how things unfolded. Her neighbour, a Hindu, gave her family and several other families shelter. However, the next day, the neighbour had to let them go when the mob threatened him. Nisha, her mother and her three younger siblings made it to Ghaziabad, to their relative’s home.

Three years later, Nisha now has a diploma in pharmacy and is working to support her family along with her father, a travel guide. Their house has been repainted thanks to the efforts of activists and organisations such as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Jamat-e-Islami. However, the memory of her home being ransacked continues to haunt her. She said: “Even now, when I think about it, I get depressed. I feel I have become very short-tempered.”

According to psychiatrists, anger issues in such cases can be a sign of suppressed trauma and may be linked to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Nisha is not alone. Thousands of others who were affected by the violence feel similarly and the experience manifests itself as mental health issues.

Although some of them are aware of their situation and actively attempt to address the issues, they lack access to psychiatric facilities for reasons ranging from financial instability to family’s resistance to seeking professional help.

While it is crucial to help survivors of violence get back on their feet economically, it is equally imperative that long-term mental health issues, too, are addressed. A few survivors are able to pinpoint the psychological problems they are going through, whereas others cope without even being aware of the trauma.

The government claims to have compensated the families of the 53 victims, but the mental health concerns of those living in the riot-affected areas have received little attention. It is time to recognise that addressing mental health issues is a key component of rebuilding lives in the aftermath of communal violence.

When Nisha’s family disapproved of her seeing a psychiatrist, Gurpreet Wasi, a volunteer with Khalsa Aid, an international NGO that works in disaster areas and conflict zones, stepped in. Gurpreet told Frontline: “Many of the survivors, like Nisha, were going through immense trauma, and we tried to intervene in cases where families were not open to seeking professional help. We tried to talk to them as friends, helped them in processing their trauma and offered them one-to-one counselling. We called it Project Dilasa (Project Comforter).”

Although activists like Gurpreet are not professional psychiatrists, they have been trained to assist survivors in processing any traumatic incident they may have witnessed or experienced.

Mursalin Ahmad. | Photo Credit: By special arrangement

For those who were already dealing with mental health issues before the violence, the situation worsened. Mursalin Ahmad, 25, was a BSc student at Swami Sharadhanand College in Delhi University during the period the violence happened in north-east Delhi. Since childhood, he had experienced mental health issues arising from the confusion over his sexual orientation, and the experience of the riots only made it worse.

Ahmad said the police did nothing when a mob came to his neighbourhood in Ashok Nagar and pelted stones at his house. He added: “The five policemen who arrived advised us to leave the house and follow them, but the mob could have easily overpowered them. So we waited, and the policemen left without making any effort to disperse the crowd. My house became the main target of their attack as it was right next to a mosque.”

Ahmad and his family—two brothers, a sister, and parents—went up to the terrace before the mob entered his house. They jumped across terraces and somehow made it to safety. Thereafter, they stayed at a relative’s house in Shahdara for a few days.

Mursalin Ahmad’s house, which was burnt down during the violence. | Photo Credit: By special arrangement

“When I reached my maamu’s (maternal uncle) place at night, everything seemed different. I broke down. I had been strong the entire day, but I couldn’t take it any more. I could have died, my family could have died. We all cried,” he said.

Once the violence subsided, his father, a wholesale vegetable and fruit seller in Ghazipur mandi, returned home to find that it had been burned down. The stationery store they owned had also been completely looted. Showing pictures of his burnt house on his phone, Ahmad said: “We returned to our home after ten days and saw that everything was either burnt or looted. They even took away our utensils, clothes, jewellery, money and documents.”  

Ahmad now resides alone in a house in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood. He suffers from severe insomnia and has frequent nightmares. He visited a psychiatrist in 2022 and was prescribed medication for anxiety, insomnia, and depression. “It has helped me greatly,” he said. Through his Instagram account, Ahmad now actively encourages individuals to seek psychiatric assistance for mental health issues.

Psychologists say that the number of young Muslims coming to them has risen sharply since the violence.  Several young Muslims approached Sabah Siddiqui, a clinical psychologist based in Tamil Nadu, after the violence with requests for counselling appointments.

Speaking to Frontline, Siddiqui said that witnessing violence had a close and documented relationship to developing psychological symptoms of distress. Some common manifestations were developing paranoia, social phobia, issues of trust, difficulties in establishing relations, and a sense of hopelessness. These symptoms then present themselves in a range of mental health conditions, from anxiety disorders to psychotic conditions.

Siddiqui added: “A communal riot leaves very particular psychological scars, because it is an instance of the breakdown of the social fabric, sometimes between neighbours or people we grew up with. When  even the government cannot protect people, it makes people feel isolated and abandoned. It takes a long time to feel safe again.”

According to Siddiqui, the degree of impact may vary depending on how closely a person has witnessed the violence. She said: “Seeing the riots up close would have resulted in more severe consequences for the victims and survivors of violence. The trauma is higher, and most likely the conditions to deal with psychological trauma would not be available to people dealing first with the material consequences of the riots. So dealing with the psychological impact and healing can take longer or be more complicated.”

Ripple effect of violence

Siddiqui added that the ripple effect of violence cannot be discounted: even those who may not have been victims themselves can get impacted. For young people, especially children, the effects are worse. Experts worry that children are likely to be the most affected. They internalise the breakdown of the social fabric in an extreme moment of communal discord when they witness a communal riot.

Siddiqui said: “It can have a long-lasting impact. The youth develop a characteristic way of responding to other people and social situations based on their idea of the world. An idea born in violence is not incorrect, they have seen it with their own eyes, but it is tragic that so many young people have this idea about the world.” She added that poverty and financial instability, too, can exacerbate distress among survivors who are struggling to find stable livelihoods.

Financial insecurity

The riots and the subsequent COVID-19-induced lockdowns have had a significant impact on the finances of the residents of north-east Delhi, most of whom are daily wage earners.

Explaining how financial insecurity caused by the riots and their aftermath impacts both physical and mental health, Siddiqui said: “Good health, including mental health, is premised on basic amenities, which would be scarce in this situation. Financial insecurity also leads to high levels of stress and anxiety. Victims will continue worrying about being able to find work, income, and security while battling feelings of being helpless or worthless.”

Mobile phones from Shabnam’s husband’s mobile repair shop, which was destroyed during the violence. He still owes his customers money, says Shabnam. | Photo Credit: By special arrangement

An example of this is Shabnam, 30, who lives in Khajuri Khas. Her husband Mohammad Amjad’s mobile repair shop, which he was operating from home, was destroyed when a mob burned their house down. The couple is still struggling to recover from the financial losses they suffered then.

“My husband, even though he never shows it, is very stressed. He has changed as a person since the violence,” Shabnam said. “Our house was burnt. We had to spend multiple days locked up in a cramped room in a nearby house with over 50 people. We threw our own children from one terrace to another like footballs to protect them.”

She added, “My husband’s dream to have his own mobile repair shop was shattered. We are still dealing with it, but we do not know how to any more.”

The Crux

• In February 2020, 53 people—38 Muslims and 15 Hindus—were killed in the riots in north-east Delhi, which broke out over the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
• Three years later, despute the government’s claims of having compensated the families of the 53 victims, the struggle to recover from the financial losses and psychological trauma of the violence continues.
• It is time to recognise that addressing mental health issues is a key component of rebuilding lives in the aftermath of communal violence.