NEW DELHI: A quarrel over an autorickshaw parked in an area in Block 20 of Trilokpuri where some youths were playing cricket on Thursday took a communal turn with several rounds of stone pelting. Though the violence ended within half an hour, residents of the east Delhi locality remained anxiety-ridden on Saturday. They blamed the Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Isai Ekta Committee, created after similar disturbances in 2014, for having failed to keep peace between the two communities.Since Diwali 2014, when a scuffle at a makeshift temple snowballed into rioting, people in Blocks 20, 21, 27 and 32 were hoping to resolve the issue through dialogue. They agreed that it didn’t take much to start a communal flare-up and a minor accident or an argument could trigger a major clash.“Relations between the two communities are always tense these days,” said Tilak Kumar, a former associate of the Ekta Committee. “This wasn’t the case earlier, but now there is a sense of mistrust among the youths of the two communities.” The area also doesn’t have CCTV cameras to help the cops identify the criminal elements involved in provoking the disturbances.Residents alleged that the Ekta Committee’s role had diminished now to organising processions during religious events and arranging meetings between community elders and police after every incident. “The situation on Thursday could have been avoided if the committee had conducted regular interactions between the youths to reduce the mistrust created by the events of 2014,” said Sandhya Devi, a resident.Mohammad Zahiruddin, whose brother was arrested for rioting on Thursday, said that it is only after clashes that the committee members surfaced. “Even then, they do not listen to our version of the story, but form an opinion on their own,” he complained. Kuldeep also wondered about the need of such a committee if the residents had to resolve differences on their own.Riyazuddin Saifi, a panel member, refuted these charges and said the Ekta Committee had always remained “in touch with the RWAs and MWAs and helped resolved disputes”. But local sources felt the absence of influential community leaders hampered efforts to calm down the youths from both sides of the divide. “There should be someone whom both the parties will listen to and trust,” said a police officer.

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