Communal divide: Muzaffarnagar riot victims tell Rahul, we won't return home

“We will not go back. They are powerful,” a youth said bitterly at Khurgan prompting Gandhi to ask “How many dabang (muslcemen) are there?”

Mufti Aslam at Malakpur was, however, agitated that the state administration wanted a pledge from the camp-dwellers that they would not go back to their villages if they have received a compensation of Rs five lakh earmarked for the rehabilitation of the displaced.

As Gandhi repeatedly asked him what should be done so that the victims could return to their homes, he insisted that it is not possible unless those who carried out the riots and “are still moving scot free” are put behind bars.

At Baranali a woman screamed, “I have lost my son and they have also burnt my house. What will I do by going there?”

At Bharnau camp, the riot victims tried to block Gandhi's cavalcade seeking solutions to their problems and clear assurances.

Some community organisations have also pitched in for help. A banner of Taiyab Hospital was seen at the relief camp in Akbar Sunethi.