Tag: Kashmiri Gate

This Is How Muslims Across India Responded To Terror Attacks in Sri Lanka

Condemning the attacks, Muslims in different parts of the country visited churches to present white roses and express solidarity.

New Delhi: The historical St James Church in the Kashmiri Gate area of the national capital witnessed something rather unusual this Sunday. During the service, apart from Christian churchgoers, more than a dozen Muslims from different parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region were in attendance.

They were there to extend solidarity with the Christian and other communities in the wake of the horrific terror attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday. After the service, they presented white roses to the faithful who had come for the service.

This is “to show we stand united and hate cannot divide us,” read the message circulated on social media inviting Muslims to participate in it. “In solidarity with our Christian brethren and the entire humanity and as the Muslims of Delhi prepare for Ramzan, we wish to start the pious month by standing up for our Christian brothers,” it added. Ramzan, the holy month of fasting for Muslims, begins on Tuesday.

Welcoming those extending solidarity on behalf of the Church and the Christian community in and around Kashmiri Gate, Father Rev Prateek Pillai said, “We are happy that you have come, with the sweet gesture, white roses and good messages. It is a prayer together that the God would enable all of us to work for the betterment of humanity, propagate the message of peace and fraternity.”

Apart from the white roses, the Muslims carried placards with messages such as ‘Hate Darkens Life, Love Illuminates it’, ‘We Condemn Hate Crimes’ and ‘Not In Our Name’.  

Members of Muslim and Christian Community outside St. James Church, Delhi. Credit: Abu Sufiyan

This solidarity meeting was attended by writer-translator Rana Safvi, Prof S. Irfan Habib, journalist and writer Saira Mujtaba, activists from Old Delhi Abu Sufiyan and Sheeba Aslam Fehmi amongst many others.

However, this was not the only initiative. In the wake of the bombings, several meetings were organised by Muslims across the country to condemn the terror attack and express solidarity with the victims and their family members. Meetings were held in Ranchi, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Chennai, Mysore, Lucknow and Kasaragod.

Also Read: Muslims Don’t Have to Be Perpetually Apologetic: Turkish Presidential Advisor

Muslim religious groups in the country were quick to denounce the act of terror and appealed for calm and peace. Just two days after the attack, a joint press conference was organised at the Constitution Club of Delhi by several Muslim organisations and Christian religious leaders. The leaders categorically denounced the blasts and termed people behind them “anti-human, anti-God and anti-civilisation and incarnation of most heinous and devilish forces on the earth.” 

It was addressed by Navaid Hamid, president of All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat, Maulana Nusrat Ali, vice president of Jamaat e Islami Hind, Dr Zafarul Islam Khan, chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission, Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, activist-writer Dr John Dayal and Shia scholar Maulana Mohin Taqvi among the others. On this occasion, Christian leaders Father Flex, Father A.C. Michael and Father Abraham were also present and thanked Muslim leaders for expressing their solidarity with the community. 

Joint Press Conference in Delhi. Credit: Jamiat Facebook page

In Hyderabad, a week after the blasts, Muslims gathered at the city’s St George’s Church to express their solidarity. During the sermon delivered by priests and pastors, the need for unity and peace was stressed. Later, Shaikh Mirza Yawer Baig, an Imam of Masjid Mahmood Habib in Banjara Hills along with several other Muslim clergy and scholars also addressed those who had arrived for the service.  

On the same day, Muslims gathered at St Philomena’s in Mysore, St Mary’s Cathedral Church in Ranchi, St Luke’s Church in Chennai and at different churches in Nagpur, Lucknow and Kasaragod, holding placards and gifting roses to members of the Christian community. A large number of participants were Muslim women and girls.

Members of Muslim Community outside a Church in Kasaragod in Kerala. Credit: Twitter

Meanwhile, on May 4, a delegation of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, under the leadership of its general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani, met the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of India, Cardinal Oswald Gracias at his residence in Mumbai. Conveying sympathy on behalf of Indian Muslims to the Christian brethren, the Jamiat delegation said it stands with the aggrieved Christian community. Madani also announced that Cardinal Gracias will be the chief guest for the Jamiat’s Eid Millan celebration this year.

Jamiat Ulema i Hind delegation with meeting President of Catholic Bishop’s Conference in Mumbai. Credit: Jamiat Facebook page

In India’s Capital, Pakistani Refugees Find a Place They Can Call Home

A few Hindu families from Pakistan began to settle at Majnu ka Tila in 2011 and the process has continued. But how welcoming has their new home been?

A few Hindu families from Pakistan began to settle at Majnu ka Tila in 2011 and the process has continued. But how welcoming has their new home been?

Roopchandra sells sugar cane juice to earn his living. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

Roopchandra sells sugar cane juice to earn his living. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

New Delhi: The innumerable multicolored flags fluttering on terraces at Majnu ka Tila and the Tibetan colony in New Delhi near Kashmiri Gate signify the cultural and physical presence of a mini-Tibet. This colony, since long has been a home to Tibetan refugees who fled their homeland back in the 1960s and sought refuge here in New Delhi. While the rich culture of Tibetan food and garb dominate this colony, at a distance of not more than half a km reside Pakistani Hindu refugees in their shanties.

Hindu refugees

On an April afternoon, the sun is at its peak and the colony en route to Kashmiri Gate bus stand appears deserted. A Delhi Development Authority (DDA) board avows that the land belongs to the DDA and any kind of encroachment is prohibited. Spread over an area of few acres, this DDA land hosts close to one hundred shanties which accommodate hundred and twenty Hindu families from Pakistan.

Roopchandra, who recently acquired a new sugar cane machine seems absorbed in it and directs toward Mahadev Advani. On the way to Advani’s veranda, two giggling women talk as their buckets and utensils rest right beside them. The scorching afternoon wind strikes and you try to dodge it. Mahadev asks for a glass of water – a middle-aged, chubby woman brings water and sits at a distance, though without any veil and occasionally participates in the conversation.

In 2013, Advani and several others migrated from Pakistan citing a sacred visit to the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad as a reason to visit India and never returned to the land of their ancestors. “Our children were not learning anything about Hindu culture and tradition there. The medium of education was either Sindhi or Punjabi and that made us apprehensive all the more,” says Advani. We thought we might go extinct in the times to come, he adds.

Minority in Pakistan

Pakistan has a number of woes of its own. The Tehreek-e-Taliban, a terror group dominant in the northwestern part of Pakistan, has wrecked havoc on its own people and created a sense of trepidation in the entire country. Religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyas who were stripped of their Muslim identity by the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto regime and Hazaras have longed to be at peace but with little respite.

Farhanaz Ispahani, media advisor to the president of Pakistan from 2008-2012 in her book, Purifying the Land of the Pure: Pakistan’s Religious Minorities alludes to the longstanding miseries of minorities in Pakistan. She blames the successive regimes in Pakistan for having aggravated the problem. She refers to the dwindling population of minorities as “drip-drip genocide”.

However, the refugees at Majnu ka Tila do not mention this as one of the major reasons for leaving Pakistan. A few of them claim that such a situation never arose during their stay in Pakistan, while some others did mention hostility at the hands of extremists. “We were never forced to renounce our religion to convert to Islam. There are a few areas where this must have been practiced, but nobody forced us. They would just preach Islam,” says Laxman, pradhan (chief) of the colony at Majnu Ka Tila.

Baba (left) fled Pakistan in 2013 to evade persecution at the hands of extremists. He spends most of his time at home. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

Baba (left) fled Pakistan in 2013 to evade persecution at the hands of extremists. He spends most of his time at home. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

The year 2011 was a witness to the arrival of the first few Hindu families from Pakistan, which settled here at Majnu ka Tila and the process has continued since then. While the pradhan denied any instance of persecution at the hands Pakistanis, a frail Baba, who must be in his seventies, recounted his anguish vividly. “Sometimes they would just barge into our houses and molest our girls. They would beat us badly and run away with our possessions. The government had also turned a blind eye toward us. Nobody used to listen to us,” he laments.

Government promises

In 2015, the Kejriwal government had taken notice of the lack of basic necessities at this colony that continues to grow. The government arranged for drinking water and toilet facilities. An extra electricity generator has also been stationed to light this colony at night. Laxman, in his recent meet with Kejriwal had communicated the issues his colony faced on a daily basis. “Mosquitoes don’t let us sleep because Yamuna is around the corner. We had applied for a ration card long back. Almost eight months have passed, but we still have no idea, where it is and when it would be issued,” says Laxman.

Bollywood stars and gods placed beside each other on one of the walls at Majnu Ka Teela Hindu colony. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

Bollywood stars and gods placed beside each other on one of the walls at Majnu Ka Teela Hindu colony. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

Moving deeper into the colony manifests the profoundly rooted affection it has not only for god, but also the tri-color. At one of the far ends of this colony exits a temple that is well endowed with the idols of Hanuman and other goddesses. An Indian and a saffron flag, one beneath the other, flap in the breeze to greet the visitors before they join their hands to pray before Hanuman. “We always had our temples within the precincts of our houses in Pakistan, but here we have everything in the open,” says Nanakram.

Indian and saffron flag flutter one beneath the other. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

Indian and saffron flag flutter one beneath the other. Credit: Mirza Arif Beg

The refugees who left their property, houses and some of them even their families in a quest for better living in India have faced prejudice here as well. The police, on repeated occasions, have assaulted them and at times even seized their carts. “The police have beaten us in the past and still do so. I just want to earn enough money to serve basic necessities to my family, but it’s becoming difficult day by day,” says Tarachand Dilsagar. Sometimes I feel I was better off there in Pakistan, he adds.

During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections the BJP manifesto very categorically mentioned that India shall remain a natural home to persecuted Hindus and these persecuted Hindus will be welcomed to seek refuge here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, back in February 2014 while speaking at a rally in Assam, had also talked about accommodating Hindus from Bangladesh. The refugees at Majnu ka Tila have high expectations from the Modi-led government at the Centre. “We expect a lot from the Modi government and it’s because of this government that we all have stayed back, all of us here,” says Laxman.

India is home

While the stay of Pakistani Hindu refugees hitherto may have been full of hardships, the Modi government is all set to roll out a number of concessions for them. The government seems determined to allow the minorities from Pakistan to purchase property in India and to open bank accounts as well. Not only that, the minorities will also be permitted to take citizenship of India without any impediments.

The sun has started giving some reprieve as the shadows get enlarged in the evening. The men and children have started returning from their workplace and schools respectively. Their arrival dissipates the silence and instills life into the colony. Roopchandra is busy serving sugarcane juice to his customers and throws aside the waste every now and then. “It feels like home here. Pakistan has always been a country that looked alien to us, but India feels home,” he says.