Wedding in the time of fear, chaos

Fakir Chand was a worried man as the bloody violence here had cast a shadow on the wedding of his two daughters.
Much to his relief, the wedding ceremony passed off peacefully, with the administration making sure it did.
"I could not sleep a wink for several days. I was afraid the violence may affect the wedding of my daughters.
"The groom and his relatives were wary of coming to Shabbirpur in view of two deaths in caste-based clashes in the village," he says.
He thanks the police and the administration for making sure no untoward incident took place.
District Magistrate Pramod Kumar Pandey says the administration and the police kept a close watch so that everything goes on well.

Pandey and SSP Bablu Kumar were among those who attended the function. They say this would help instill confidence among the people of the village.

However, an uneasy calm prevails in the village, the centre of caste-based violence in Saharanpur, even as UP Home Secretary Mani Prasad Mishra and ADG Aditya Mishra went door- to-door, assuring people the situation is in control.
A few villagers tell them they have sent their children to their relatives, while many houses are locked. The chaupal (meeting), a routine affair in villages, happens here no more.
"Innocent people need not worry and the guilty will not be spared," the home secretary tells the villagers during the confidence-building campaign.