Burnt Books And Broken Desks: Delhi Schools Burnt During Violence Put Kids' Future In Jeopardy

Delhi saw its worst riots in decades and the pictures of the aftermath will haunt us forever. The clashes that started between pro-CAA and anti-CAA protestors led to the widespread destruction of both public and private properties.

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The most heartbreaking scenes are that of burnt down schools in the riot-torn areas of Delhi. According to PTI, Arun Modern Senior Secondary School, which is over 32 years old, looks no less than a cemetery. School authorities claim the damages to be worth over Rs 70 lakh.

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"While I am yet to recover from what has happened at the school, my biggest relief is that children were not in the premises when this happened. I do not even want to imagine what would have happened if that was the case," school principal Jyoti Rani told PTI.

"Our security guard was there on Tuesday evening when a mob entered the premises. Scared by the happenings, he rushed outside to save his life. Only two days later, we could gather the courage to go to the school and all I could see was vandalised desks, burnt books in library and a mess everywhere. It looks no less than a cemetery now," she added.

Shaheen, parent of a Class VII student of a riot-hit school said, "Why did the rioters have to burn down a school which educates students? They are burning everything else and could have spared schools. What about the children who are awaiting their final exams? Their year-long effort will go waste."

Books lie scattered at the Rajdhani Public School which was vandalized in Tuesday's violence at Shiv Vihar in New Delhi, India, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2020 #DelhiRiots pic.twitter.com/klwwhrMrce

¡ª Lazy Bugger (@saiyafs) February 27, 2020

According to TOI, at the Victoria Senior Secondary School, which is also a CBSE exam centre, rioters gathered outside while class XII exams was going on and they mercilessly pelted stones and vandalised school property.

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The aftermath of the riots is set to have a lasting negative impact on students who have no place to return for weeks, owing to the amount of destruction caused by the marauding mobs.

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At Rajdhani Public School in Shiv Vihar, few student bags, crayons, half-burnt models that were part of a recently held exhibition and cut-outs from the Republic Day celebrations last month are among the remains while the entire library has been burnt down.

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Security guard Pawan Susheel said, "Kindergarten students at times leave their bags in schools. No student has been hurt. This (the violence) did not happen in school hours. I came today only."

Similar heart-wrenching scenes can be witnessed in DPR School in the same area. Nobody was present on the premises. The main gate of the school has been damaged making it easy for anybody to enter inside. Schools have been closed in northeast Delhi and east Delhi for three consecutive days, while the CBSE has postponed board exams in the area.

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The violence started as a face-off between those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act and those supporting it. The amended law makes non-Muslim undocumented migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan eligible for Indian citizenship.

Son of Muddasir Khan , the Martyr of Delhi Genocide 2020 with tears in his eyes .
Congratulations BJP supporters . This is exactly what you wanted . #Delhigenocide pic.twitter.com/72UJWVP2mb

¡ª ?????? ( ???? ) (@TamannaPankaj) February 27, 2020

On the evening of February 25, Brijpuri-Mustafabad and Chandbagh, down the Wazirabad highway, became a hotspot for the communal riots.

ALL INPUTS PTI