A day after an 8-year-old boy was beaten to death in front of the madrasa where he was a student, the staffers said the incident has brought back memories of 1997 and 2000 when the two sides clashed.

Chief of the madrasa Maulana Mohd Ali Johar, who has been working here since 1988, told The Hindu that the madrasa and residents of the adjacent camp in Begumpur have clashed twice before — once in 1997 and in 2000.

“There are our Hindu brothers who live nearby. There has never been any communal tension but some anti-social elements residing in this camp have always troubled us and tried to incite communal clashes,” he said.

1997 incident

Recalling the clashes of 1997, he said the camp residents pelted stones ‘unprovoked’ after which the madrasa staffers and children retaliated. In the incident, three students allegedly sustained injuries including a broken leg, arm and head injuries.

In 2000, he claimed a similar incident of stone pelting allegedly took place in which two to three students were injured. The camp residents allegedly used derogatory terms.

“Both sides reached a compromise from both sides after a panchayat was called. The camp representatives signed a paper wherein they agreed to a number of our demands,” Mr. Johar said.

The madrasa staffers said the camp residents do not respect the religious views of the madrasa residents and deliberately create nuisance during prayers.

“These residents get drunk and throw alcohol bottles; they litter here and play loud music during namaz. They had signed a paper agreeing to not do any such thing but never stopped,” he claimed.

In the document signed 18 years ago on October 25 in 2000 by the camp representatives, accessed by The Hindu, the demands listed are: “Dadi upaadne ki baat ki maafi maangi jaaye [One should apologise for pulling the beard]… injuries of the children should be compensated for… respect all the mazars in the area… under the limitations of mosque and cemetery, no one should gamble or drink… the main reason of the fight which the way to the camp from the madrasa will be blocked…”.

Talking about the incident, Faizan (11), who was with the victim during the fight, said the students were playing gilli-danda on the land which separates the madrasa from the camp when the incident happened. “Our gilli went to the other side where five boys from the camp were playing. When we went to take it, they started abusing us and the fight started. The boys threw crackers at us. They thrashed the victim and tried to strangulate him before throwing him on the ground when he lost consciousness,” he said.

Faizan said the victim had come to the madrasa around a year-and-a-half ago.

“He was friendly and always smiling. He was very bright at studies also,” he said.

The boy’s body was handed over to his family after the post-mortem on Friday. He is survived by his father, mother and two elder brothers.On Friday, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan and Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti visited the madrasa. The Delhi government will give ₹5 lakh to the victim’s family, they said.