Nuh love: Muslims guard village temple, friends meet

Nuh, August 3

The “nefarious designs” of the miscreants responsible for the worst-ever communal clashes in Haryana on July 31 left behind a trail of destruction and caused a spillover in adjoining districts, but one thing remains intact — the social fabric of this society where mistrust has failed to divide the communities along religious lines.

Conspiracy to garner votes

There can never be a divide between a temple and a mosque. Going to either place doesn’t make a difference when we have all grown up together. This is nothing more than a political conspiracy to garner votes ahead of the 2024 election. Ravinder Kumar, a resident

In Ghasera village where Mahatma Gandhi, during Partition, had addressed the Meos to prefer staying with India rather than going with Pakistan, members of the Muslim community have been guarding the local temple.

With his house closest to the temple, Shukat Ali watches out for any suspicious movement all day. “We don’t want any outsiders disturbing the peace between our communities. Every night, 10 Muslim men, along with two men of the Hindu community, stay on the temple premises to guard it through the night. We are not worried about the villagers, but the outsiders who spell trouble,” he says.

Since there are very few Hindu families in Ghasera, the Muslims have taken on the responsibility of watching out for the former. “The sarpanch held a meeting right after the riots and we were assigned this duty of protecting the brotherhood that exists in our village,” says Tayab Hussai as he puts his arm around villager Mukesh Bhardwaj during a lively chat session.

Not far from there, in Chhapera village, Ram Karan, a former sarpanch, shares his hookah with Ismail along with other villagers. “There is complete trust between our communities and we often accompany members of the other community to ensure that they reach their homes safely in trying times like these when the effort is to create a rift between us,” says Bhagat Singh. Shahida and Mohd, Abdullaha nod in unison.

“There can never be a divide between a temple and a mosque. Going to either place doesn’t make a difference when we have all grown up together. This is nothing more than a political conspiracy to garner votes ahead of the 2024 election,” says Ravinder Kumar, adding that no local went for the VHP’s shobha yatra during which these clashes erupted.

In Chhachera, the owner of a private school, Desraj, says, he meets his farmer friend, Hakim, daily. “That evening of July 31, an autorickshaw driver dropped off four Muslim women right in front of my school and fled after clashes broke out. We made then comfortable before their families came and took them away. One girl with a baby could not go back that same night. I offered to take her to my place to ensure her safety, but she was reluctant. I spoke to Hakim about not wanting to leave the girl on the school premises alone despite it being safe and he opened his doors for her. She felt safer at his place and stayed there till her husband came to pick her up the next morning,” he narrated.

These are not stray stories of support the Hindu and Muslim families lend to each other every day. Ask Ved Pal who runs a vegetable shop in the centre of Ghasera and he remarks, “This is a way of life here. We are not divided by religion.” As a posse of men from the paramilitary forces keep vigil at crossings and corners, brotherhood seems to have survived this trying test it was put through.