Muharram procession in Bawana: No violence but Muslims remain fearful

Frightened residents of the Muslim-majority JJ Colony in Bawana area of north-west Delhi spent a sleepless night even after their taziya procession was over without any major incident on Tuesday. On Sunday, a Jat Mahapanchayat (grand assembly), attended by 700 people from 50 villages, had resolved not to allow the procession through the Hindu-dominated Bawana market area. The Muslim residents of the JJ Colony, a majority of them daily wage labourers, said they are extremely worried, fearful and anxious of their life and property. “We are surrounded by Hindus, who are well-off and powerful. We depend on them for all our daily needs, including ration. If any untoward incident takes place, what will we do and where will we go?” asks 52-year-old Ainul Haque, the father five children including two young daughters. “The security of my two daughters haunts us because women are vulnerable targets in all communal clashes. We do not want fight because as we have to return to them for our livelihood. We work in their factories, shops etc and this breach of trust will make us lose our sources of income,” he told Firstpost. Few families have left the place simmering with communal tension. 45-year-old Shaheen was waiting at a bus stop near the colony with her three daughters and one son. “I am leaving the area for few days. Although I do not want to desert my house and leave alone my husband here but I am doing so because it is my compulsion as I have daughters and a six-month-old son. Where will I go if any untoward incident happens,” she said with tears in her eyes. [caption id=“attachment_1788821” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A Muharram procession. Image used for representational purposes only. AFP.[/caption] “Paisa to phir se aa jayega, lekin izzat nahin aati (Money can be earned again but we can get back our modesty if it is outraged,” she said. A little aggressive Shaukat says, “Hum bhag kar jayenge kahan? Jab baat jaan par ban ayegi to marenge ya maarenge (Where will we escape? If it comes to our survival, then we will either kill or be killed).” Terming the restriction on the traditional route of the procession “illegal, politically motivated and an attempt to instigate people”, another resident Dr Gulab said, “A concentrated efforts have been going on the past three-four months to create full-fledged communal disturbance here. We are tolerating and continue to do so because we are unable to fight back.” “We do not want fight as we are daily wage labourer and they are landlords. We struggle everyday for our livelihood. We have no option but to control ourselves,” he said. Hurt by the rise of communal unrest in the national capital, 21-year-old Deepak says, “Hum Holi, Diwali aur Eid saath manate hain. Hum ek dusre ke mazhab ka respect karte hain…yeh kuch logon ko acha nahin lagta…. Log ye kyun bhul jaate hain ki yeh desh jitna hinduon ka hai utna hi musalmaano ka bhi hai?…har din ek nayi ghatna ki khabar aati hai…ab to aap kahin bhi safe nahin ho (We celebrate Holi, Diwali and Eid together. We respect each other’s religion…a handful of people do not like this brotherhood…. Why do people forget that the country belongs to Muslims as much as it belongs to Hindus? We get news of communal tension everyday…you are not safe anywhere in the country).” Describing what had happened on the occasion of Eid in the first week of October, Md Ilyas Ansari, who manages Madeena Masjid in Block A of the colony, says, “Around 100 youth associated with Shaheed Bhagat Singh club came here on October 4 under police protection and illegally searched Muslim premises in the name of preventing cow slaughter. They barged into a nearby mosque and abused the imam (prayer leader) and moazzin (the person who calls azaan – prayer call). When locals objected, a minor clash took place but the issue was sorted out by the police. The area has been tense since then.” Questioning the intention of organising Mahapanchayat, he said, “When it was already decided that the taziya procession will not pass through the route, then why the grand assembly of 52 villages was called and venom spitted against us. We have submitted our decision to the administration in writing. We do not want confrontation. We want to live peacefully but the trouble makers do not want peace. By creating unrest, they want to throw us out from the colony. They want a strong Hindu-dominated pocket here.” Few persons, with whom Firstpost spoke, said they want peace and harmony and have nothing to do with taziya route. “It is clear that the incidents in Trilokpuri and Bawana are being orchestrated as part of a larger political conspiracy to polarise communities and heighten communal tensions in the run up to possible Delhi assembly polls in the near future. These set of events are in line with similar actions by communal forces elsewhere in the country that have resulted in riots and communal polarisation for electoral gain,” said Dheeraj, a hardware shop owner in Bawana market. On Sunday, participants of the Mahapanchayat delivered hate-filled speeches. “Hum khuli chunauti dete hain ki hum yahan se taziya nikalne nahin denge. Hum kamzor nahin hain. Agar taziya yahan se nikla toh jo bhi maar-kaat hogi uske liye prashasan zimmedaar honga” (We give open challenge that we will not let taziya pass through our area. We are not weak. If the taziya procession moves from here, the administration will be responsible for the following violence),” said BJP MLA Gugan Singh Ranga while addressing the huge gathering. The youth were repeatedly urged in the gathering to be ready to oppose the procession’s entry strongly, with whatever means that they would find fit. In an announcement made at the end of the panchayat, all participants were asked to be ready and share their cell phone numbers. “Sabhi bhai apne phone numbers yahan par likh den taaki hum gopniya tarique se aap logon ko bata sake ki 4 taarikh ko kya karna hai. Aap 4 taarikh ko tayyar rahen, taziya sham ko niklega….” (All the brothers are requested to write down their phone numbers here so that we can secretly inform you that what is to be done on November 4. Be ready on 4th, the taziya procession would be held in the evening)," said one of the speakers in his concluding remarks. There have been reports of similar demands at meetings in other parts of the city like Mundka and Shiv Vihar (Kanjhawala).