"We didn't sleep for three days" Delhi after the riots
After days of riots in India's capital New Delhi, business owners ventured out for the first time on the weekend to survey the damage.
The city's reeling after its worst bout of violence in decades.
Aftab Khan sells bicycles - he lost his entire shop.
(SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LOCAL RESIDENT AND BUSINESS OWNER, AFTAB KHAN, SAYING:
"They dragged everything out of the shop and burnt it and stole some of the bicycles. . .They looted the rest and took them home."
Dozens of people were killed and hundreds more injured as Hindus and Muslims clashed last week.
The violence broke out after weeks of protests against a new citizenship law.
It makes the path to Indian citizenship easier for six religious groups from neighboring countries - but not Muslims.
Despite more police deployed on Sunday (1 March), many are still too scared to leave their homes.
(SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) AFTAB'S MOTHER, SHABANA KHAN, SAYING:
"We didn't sleep for three days. We stayed up all night guarding our children and daughters-in-law. I don't understand how this happened. These little children are getting desperate and impatient to go out of the house but how do we take them out? So we have been confined to the house."
Schools were set ablaze and mobs rampaged the streets, damaging property last week.
But a story of perseverance is emerging.
For this principal, she said all efforts will be pulled out to conduct makeshift classrooms for scheduled exams next week.
(SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) PRINCIPAL, D.R.P CONVENT SCHOOL, INDU SHARMA, SAYING:
"This is the temple of education where our small children study. What will be their future? They have done this (ransacked) it in such a manner so that no one can open a school over here. They have made it a barren land but we will not give up hope, we will open the school again."
