The Red Fort car blast has catapulted a nondescript Haryana village into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

The Muslim-majority Dhauj village is yet to come to terms with the fact that two terror suspects linked to the blast were connected to the Al Falah University, around 1.5km away.

Dr Muzammil Ahmad Ganai and Dr Shaheen Sayeed — both employed by the university — were arrested for their alleged link to the terror module linked to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

Muzammil had rented a house in Dhauj from where a huge cache of explosives and ammunition linked to the blast was recovered on November 10.

Villagers said the blast had not only tarnished Dhauj’s image, where Hindus and Muslims have long been living in harmony, but also reenergised the anti-Muslim narrative. The entire community has to take the blame for a select few, they complained.

“Gaon ki chavi kharab hui hai. Red Fort main jo dhamaka hua woh galat hua. Doshiyon ko kadi se kadi saja do. (The village’s image has been tarnished. The Red Fort blast was wrong. The perpetrators should be punished),” a villager said.

Cleric Maulana Mohammad Qasim termed the terror attack “a horrible and gruesome act” and called for strict punishment for the culprits. “This has brought shame to the entire
village,” he said.

The villagers are stunned by Al Falah University’s connection to the terror attack. “The varsity had earned huge popularity in the area. Many former students now work in prestigious companies,” Dhauj sarpanch Mohd Sajid Hussain told The Telegraph.

“Kisi ke mathe par to nahin likha hota hai ki wo aatankvadi hai. (It is not written on anyone’s forehead that she/he is a terrorist),” Imran, a villager, said about Muzammil.

Villagers urged reporters not to link the terror suspects with the village. “Whoever was arrested was not from the village. They came from Kashmir.”

Around 40,000 people live in the village, and 15-20 per cent of them are Hindus.