Three friends, two Hindus and a Muslim, standing around in Block C blamed outsiders for the tension, but said things appeared to be cooling down.Two days before Eid, the fears of communal violence in Hastsal Colony of Uttam Nagar would appear to exist more on social media than on the street. As Ramzan comes to an end, the lanes are packed with shoppers – and the shops with dry fruit, skull caps, and toys.The heavy barricading and police deployment, and frequent patrols of the Rapid Action Force (RAF), however, strike a jarring note. If there is the anticipation of festival joy, there is also unease and a palpable undercurrent of tension.“I came here in the year 2000, and I have now seen 26 Ramzans… The fervour is the same this year. The mosque is packed every evening. Just because some people are saying things on social media, we don’t have to hide,” says Mohammad Aizad (36), naib imam (junior cleric) of the biggest mosque in the area.Hatsal Colony is a maze of narrow lanes tightly packed with dwelling houses. From the names on doors, it is not immediately apparent which lane or block is dominated by Hindus and which by Muslims.It is here that 26-year-old Tarun Kumar was beaten to death after a dispute with his Muslim neighbours on Holi. Calls for bloody retribution followed, and fringe groups on social media have called for a “Khoon ki Holi on Eid”.On Wednesday, Congress MP from Kishanganj Mohammed Jawed submitted a letter signed by himself and several other Opposition MPs to Union Home Minister Amit Shah to “direct the Delhi Police to act firmly and impartially” against those spreading hate.Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X that “nothing was being done to reverse” the “atmosphere of violence” in the area.Thirty-eight-year-old tailor Naushad said the March 4 incident had hit his business. “Some of my clients who used to give bulk orders have left. My Eid income has gone,” he said.Story continues below this adHe is not afraid, Naushad said. But what his family and friends are seeing on their phones can be scary.“My sister in Bihar saw videos and comments of some leaders who came to protest here. She rang me and asked me to leave. I told her things were not that bad. My own three kids also played Holi,” he said.Ramzan Ansari (65), who was sitting with Naushad, said Tarun became the victim of what was no more than a “gali ka jhagda”. The Muslim woman at whom the water balloon was thrown, had made a big fuss out of nothing, Ansari said.“I clean the front of my own house after every Holi. My own grandchildren splatter it with colours. If you don’t like it, you should not come out on Holi. Someone else’s mistake has created tensions for us,” he said.Story continues below this adThree friends, two Hindus and a Muslim, standing around in Block C blamed outsiders for the tension, but said things appeared to be cooling down.“There was real concern. People were saying things. The crowds on the streets had thinned. But it seems to be getting normal over the last couple of days,” one of the men, Sadiq Khan, the owner of a meat shop, said.Sadiq’s friend for more than three decades, Sudhir Pawar, who owns a fair price shop, said: “Most locals saw it (the Holi incident) as a local fight. The woman [who was hit by the balloon] and Tarun’s family had quarrelled earlier over issues like parking. But the people who came from outside made it into something else altogether.”Sitting in a lane guarded by police at one end and RAF on the other, Memraj, the father of the deceased, said he only wanted the “most stringent” punishment for all the accused. Eid, and what may or may not happen on that day, was not his concern, he said.The accused family, Memraj alleged, carried out their dyeing business on the roof, spilled dirty water carelessly, and fought with “almost everyone”.